Patel Agitated!

Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel seems to have a hangover from her stint as the chief minister of Gujarat

- Deepak Tiwari

Unfinished structures litter the Bhopal Raj Bhavan complex. The bungalow itself is spread over 15,000 sq.ft. and was designed by French architect Austate Cook. It has largely been a retirement home for senior leaders, who lived a life of protocols. However, 77-year-old Anandiben Patel, former Gujarat chief minister, is not a copybook governor. Her out-of-the-box style of working saw the fund-starved Madhya Pradesh government sanction nearly 05 crore to complete the unfinished civil works, including an auditorium and a guest house, on the Raj Bhavan premises.

Patel hauled up public works department (PWD) officers and a contractor for the poor construction work. “I had been the PWD minister for seven years, and this is not the way things are done,” she said. The construction of the auditorium and guest house was on hold since 2013 for want of funds.

Patel took over in January, and, in the very first week, opened the Raj Bhavan to children. The same week, she visited the anganwadi centre at Bal Niketan Children Home to inspect the quality of food being distributed to children below three. She asked authorities to improve the quality, putting the government in the dock.

Her inspection of several such anganwadis, which are the primary checkpoints to monitor malnutrition among poor children, was viewed as a veiled pointer at the poor malnutrition record of the state. Madhya Pradesh leads the country in child mortality because of malnutrition.