Via the Times of India: Swine flu brings govt to a standstill. Excerpt:
Confusion prevails in the top corridors of power as to who runs the Gujarat government at a time when Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been quarantined because of swine flu.
Chief secretary D Rajagopalan, who flew with Modi to Russia and remained with him for four days, has decided to avoid any public appearance as a precautionary measure. Also, there is an advisory from state health minister Jay Narayan Vyas to his colleagues to avoid public interaction.
Sources in the CM office said as Modi is in isolation, he is not seeing any files. Even urgent files are being kept in abeyance till he gets well. "Even otherwise Modi does not see files on Saturdays and Sundays," a senior bureaucrat said.
State home minister Amit Shah, known to be close to Modi, said, "There is no need to appoint an acting chief minister. The CM office is perfectly capable of handling all issues."
On Friday, when Sachivalaya was functioning, no minister attended office. Shah was in the CM office for some time, but he left after a while.
A crucial meeting called for Modi's campaign for improving the quality of education, Gunotsav, in which all class one and two officials are to participate by reaching out to all government secondary schools, was to be held on Friday. All Gandhinagar-based class one and two officials were called to tell them what they should do for Gunotsav.
The Gunotsav meeting was cancelled, as Modi could not come to it. Officials in the state education department wondered why state education minister Ramanlal Vora and principal secretary (education) Hasmukh Adhia, who is known for his proximity to the CM, could not hold the meeting.
Explanation was as Vora and Adhia interacted with Modi on Thursday afternoon to prepare for the Gunotsav meeting, they decided to undergo routine check-up and avoid public appearance.
