Back in 2005, the Governor started this practice of having interactive sessions with people from various areas life and the programmes are broadcast on both Doordarshan and All India Radio.

It is Doordarshan which is in charge of finding the people the Governor wishes to meet. And if they are unable to find anyone, the Raj Bhavan staff take over.

This time, Doordarshan has so far failed in two cases — the gharibabu and the driver of a mechanised passenger boat on a Sunderban river. “We had to pass the buck to Raj Bhavan,” said a Doordarshan official.

Apart from these two, the others who will have an opportunity to meet the Governor this year are: a phoochka seller, a street acrobat, a member of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, a village midwife, a cardiac surgeon, a woman press photographer, one of the people from the old-age home Nabanir at Tollygunj, a coal miner from Asansol, a woman sanitation worker, a film studio make-up man, a taxi driver, animal welfare activist Urmila Ganguly (the only person named by the Governor) and a boxer.