On July 19,New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah complained to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth about unreasonable restrictions on the entry of ministers into the Prime Ministers residence at 7 Race Course Road,and the extremely rude behaviour of Special Protection Group personnel deployed there. Abdullah was backed by Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily,Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Shipping Minister G K Vasan. The ministers were upset because the SPG had made them wait unusually long before allowing their cars into 7 RCR. In many cases,private secretaries or additional private secretaries accompanying ministers were told to get out of cars while they waited. Abdullah,himself a Z-plus category protectee,raised the matter with Seth just before the cabinet meeting began on Thursday. He reportedly told the cabinet secretary that he had no problem with security checks,but the SPG should not harass ministers or their staff unnecessarily. Several other ministers narrated the bad experiences they had had with SPG personnel at 7 RCR. Seth apologised for the SPG,and promised the ministers that they would henceforth be polite. Last year,BSP MPs disrupted Lok Sabha protesting the SPGs alleged misbehaviour with one of their colleagues in Parliament. The then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee apologised to the MP and promised that the government would work on some institutional arrangement to prevent similar incidents.
