Hectic and Tireless Schedules of T.R. Baalu

One would be amazed to see Baalu working as a Minister. For the sake of work he relished taking up whirlwind tours at a lightning speed. Here is an example. In November 1996, in the wake of Deepavali celebrations across the country, he went to Ahmedabad from Chennai via Bangalore. The flight reached Ahmedabad around noon time. He visited ONGC installations near Ahmedabad and had a review meeting with the top officials. In the evening he had a meeting with the Chief Minister, Gujarat. Early next morning he flew to Baroda by a helicopter and visited IOC’s refinery there. After review and inspection of the numerous installations in the refinery premises including a Hospital, he continued his journey again in the helicopter to Kandla Port to inspect IOC’s port installations. After a quick lunch, he went to board the helicopter and proceeded for Hazira to inspect ONGC’s gas processing complex. This was followed by discussions with ONGC officials and thereafter the journey continued with helicopter so that he could reach Baroda before the night fall. It was just getting dusk in the evening as the helicopter touched down the Baroda Airport where Media persons were waiting to be briefed by the Minister. The next day morning the Minister flew to Cochin via Mumbai by a commercial flight. After a review and visit of refinery and discussions with the Cochin Refinery officials he attended a Press Conference. The third day morning the helicopter which had arrived from Baroda separately took him to Trichy after crossing the Western Ghats. In Trichy the official function was the inauguration of a new LPG Bottling Plant at Enamkulathur on the Trichy-Dindigul highway. After the function in Trichy, the Minister returned to Chennai by helicopter and after a very short visit to his home in the city he was back at the Chennai Airport to catch a flight to Delhi in the evening to pursue his responsibilities as Minister.

One would have heard people describing someone as a man with wheels; But T R Baalu is a man with wheels and wings.