St Stephen's, Doon networks in Team Manmohan 

New Delhi, May 28. The strange ways of old boys networks are not clear to everyone, but they sure seem to work. At least six ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new council of ministers are from St Stephen's College and several from the elite Doon School as well.

Veteran Congress leader Kapil Sibal leads the list of Stephanians in the cabinet. Amongst the others who studied in 'College', as the prestigious Delhi University institution is sometimes called, are Salman Khurshid and Shashi Tharoor, a former UN bureaucrat and novelist who is still a hot draw with his alma mater where he is flaunted as a trophy student and often called in to give speeches.

Also in the list is R.P.N. Singh. Amongst the younger lot are Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot who are now part of Manmohan Singh's new council of ministers that blends youth and experience.

The famous Doon School network, that shot into the limelight when Rajiv Gandhi brought in his old school pals in his inner coterie, continues to exert its magic pull.

Kamal Nath studied in the famed boarding school in Dehradun as did R.P.N. Singh some years later as well as Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada.