Finance Minister P Chidambaram humiliated me, alleges top bureaucrat

New Delhi –  A top bureaucrat has alleged that Finance Minister P Chidambaram had humiliated him at a meeting and has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention.

In a complaint to Dr Singh through Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, the ministry’s Secretary Sudhir Krishna said, “He (Chidambaram) could not understand my English and told me that I should speak in Hindi which his officers will translate for him in English.”

Mr Krishna alleged that the Finance Minister repeated the statement over and over in a “tone and tenor that was humiliating”.

The bureaucrat said he has requested Union Minister Nath to bring the matter to the PM’s notice.

“I do not discuss the communication from Secretary to me and vice versa,” Mr Nath told a private news channel.

The meeting was called to discuss release of additional central assistance for JNNURM projects that were already sanctioned but pending for release of funds by the Finance Ministry. The meeting was attended by Expenditure Secretary and officers of Finance Ministry and the Urban Development Ministry.