CHIEF MINISTER Shivraj Singh Chouhan tonight entertained the bureaucrats and some top police officers and ministers at a dinner he hosted at his Shyamla Hills residence. A wide range of cuisine was served at the dinner.
The invites sent to the bureaucracy’s who’s who up to under secretary level only mentioned that they were being invited to attend a dinner at the CM’s official residence. It is the first time Chouhan hosted dinner for the officials after his assuming office in November last.
In a brief informal talk with the guest officers, Chouhan said that the officials contributing their mite to development of the State, and the family members extending their support, deserved praise. They are bound to each other with a common purpose of development, he added.
His predecessors Babulal Gaur and Uma Bharti also hosted dinners for bureaucrats. Gaur had, however, hosted the dinner at Police Officers’ Mess while inviting senior IAS, IPS and IFS officials.
Tonight, Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahani, the Director General of Police Swaraj Puri, ADG Police S K Raut were among the top officials who attended the dinner. Several ministers like Kailash Vijayvargiya, Rustam Singh, Gopal Bhargava, Narottam Mishra and Rampal Singh were also present on the occasion.
{{/usCountry}}Tonight, Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahani, the Director General of Police Swaraj Puri, ADG Police S K Raut were among the top officials who attended the dinner. Several ministers like Kailash Vijayvargiya, Rustam Singh, Gopal Bhargava, Narottam Mishra and Rampal Singh were also present on the occasion.
{{/usCountry}}The significance of the dinner was that it was the first time any chief ministerextended invite to the officials of under secretary rank. The officials of under secretary and deputy secretary ranks felt overwhelmed on receiving the invites. All the officials were invited with their families.
The Chief Minister and his wife Sadhna Singh received the high-profile guests and informally interacted with them too. The officials included Khushiram, Bhagirath Prasad, Iqbal Ahmad, Vinod Chaudhary, Ranjana Chaudhary, O P Rawat, D S Rai, Manoj Shrivastava and Officials of CM’s secretariat.
Some officials preferred not to attend the dinner apprehending crowd at the venue, as the list of invitees was too long. Sources put the figure of officials attending the dinner at about 200.
The timing of the dinner, said some officials, surprised them, for the State Government was hard-pressed to provide relief to the farmers affected by the rains and the hailstorms in 45 of 48 districts, particularly when the State was yet to receive any financial assistance from the Centre. The vegetarian delicacies at the dinner included starters, karhi, rayta, varieties of veg and mixed veg, kofta, matar-paneer, tava roti, varieties of salad and desserts.