Cabinet expansion blues: Will Modi seek to induct professionals, experienced persons?

By Mohan Guruswamy*
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce the expansion of his Cabinet soon. This is being necessitated with eyes on the state Assembly elections slated for 2022 and the 2024 general elections. The Union Cabinet can have up to 81 members, but currently there are only 53 (with 28 vacancies).
On July 7, 2004 the 91st amendment to the Constitution took effect. This the size of the Councils of Ministers at the Centre and in the States cannot exceed 15% of the numbers in the Lok Sabha or State Legislatures. The logic underlying this amendment was quite obvious. Cost was not the issue, for in relation to the overall cost of government, expenditure on ministers is minuscule. The real problem is that with unlimited ministerships on offer the destabilization of governments was made easier.
Unfortunately there seems to be little realization that too many cooks spoil the broth.
Even the National Committee to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC), which recommended that the number of ministers “be fixed at the maximum of 10% of the total strength of the popular House of the Legislature”, did not seem to have thought this matter through. But even this recommendation was tweaked a bit to fix the ceiling at 15%, as we seem to have too many overly keen to be of greater service to the public by becoming ministers.
Whatever be the reasons for the ceiling, good governance considerations or management principles seem to have little to do with it. We have 548 MP’s in the Lok Sabha, which means that we can have up to 81 ministers in New Delhi. With 787 MP’s in all, that means almost one in nine MPs can be a minister. The states have in all 4,020 MLAs; opening up possibilities for about 600 ministerial berths for 4487 MLA’s and MLC’s. Uttar Pradesh has the biggest legislative assembly with 403 MLA’s or 60 ministers, while Sikkim at the other end of the spectrum has to make do with just 32 MLA’s or 5 ministers.
Quite clearly the persons who have applied their minds to this amendment have not seen government as a responsibility that has to be sensibly shared and not as a basket of fruits to be distributed. No organization that is meant to function can be designed on such a basis. Analogies are seldom entirely appropriate, but you will see what one has in mind when you consider the absurdity of limiting the number of functional responsibilities in a company to a function of the number of workers or shareholders.
Management structures and hierarchies are constructed on assignment of responsibilities according to the technical and managerial specialization of tasks. Thus a large corporation might have heads for the Production, Marketing, Finance, HRD, Legal and Secretarial, and Research functions, while in a small company just one or two persons may perform all these functions. The important thing is that management structures apportion tasks and responsibilities.
Obviously the management of government is a much more complex with an infinitely larger set of tasks than the biggest corporation, however professionally managed it may be. But to divide the management of the State into 39 functional responsibilities, as is the case now, is to exaggerate that magnitude and complexity.
It is as if in an automobile company making and selling cars, the person responsible for making gearboxes is at the same level as the persons looking after the paint shop or procuring accessories. As if this was not bad enough all these would then be at the same level as the head of Production or Marketing or Finance.

Yet this is how the Cabinet is organized. There is a minister for Rural Development and a minister for Panchayati Raj as there are ministers for Irrigation and Fertilizers, sitting on the same table as the Minister for Agriculture.

It should be quite apparent that the 91st amendment is not good enough as it just does not address the issue of making government effective

We know that all agriculture is rural and everything in the rural world revolves around agriculture and so the case for separating the two goes straight away. Besides Agriculture is about Water, Fertilizer, Food distribution, Food Processing, Agro and Rural Industries. Thus, instead of having one person responsible for improving the lot of our farmers and rural folk, we have nine departments headed by nine equal in rank ministers. They often work at cross- purposes.

In Jawaharlal Nehru’s first cabinet (see photo) there was only one minister for Food and Agriculture. The only agriculture related function not with this minister was Irrigation. Gulzarilal Nanda held the portfolio of Planning, Irrigation and Power. But in those days additional power was intended primarily from hydel projects and it thus possibly made sense to have irrigation outside the Food and Agriculture ministry.
Likewise Transport and Railway was one ministry while it has been broken up into five areas now. Some of them quite ridiculously small. Take the Ministry for Civil Aviation. Apart from near defunct Air India, diminished Airports Authority of India and the DGCA there is little to it.

The first two are companies with full time managers supposedly managing them. Since the ministry has little policy to make it busies itself micromanaging the companies. And what is the need for a Ministry of Information and Broadcasting when that means little more than Akashvani and Doordarshan?
By now it should be quite apparent that the 91st amendment is not good enough as it just does not address the issue of making government effective. We now need a 92nd amendment that will marginally change Article 74(1) of the Constitution to read “there will be a Council of Ministers consisting of the Ministers for Home Affairs, Defence, Foreign Relations, Agriculture etc. clearly specifying tasks and responsibilities”.
With Article 75(1) that makes it incumbent for the President to appoint Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister, remaining as it is, we may want to look at Article 75(5) afresh and consider the merit of eliminating the stipulation of getting elected to either houses of Parliament or legislatures. We could encourage Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers to induct professionals and experienced persons rather than be limited to professional leaders.
If Modi wants to survive politically and leave a well regarded legacy, the surest way would be to make his government more effective. For that he needs to focus on competence on the field and better bench strength.
---
*Well-known policy analyst, former adviser, Union finance ministry. Source: Facebook timeline

Comments

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

World Bank proved right, Narmada is already a destructive project: Medha Patkar

By Rajiv Shah Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar has said that the World Bank’s independent review mission, which brought out the Morse Commission report , has been proved right: The Sardar Sarovar dam has not only failed to live up to the loud promises made for irrigating large arid areas of Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat, those who were displaced and resettled in Gujarat are getting increasingly restive as many of them are unable to get the promised water for irrigation and some for drinking water too. While 50,000 families have been resettled in three states and 20,000 have received land rights as land or cash, the authorities have not calculated what should be done with 15,000 families, whose houses are acquired for Sardar Sarovar but following changing backwater levels of the Sardar Sarovar dam, they are denied rehabilitation, Patkar tells Counterview in an interview (part1*): *** Q: What is the latest position in your view as far as the Sardar Sarovar dam is concerned?

Upholding labour rights, Nehruvian scientific temper, Rajni Patel opposed Emergency

By Harsh Thakor* Rajni Patel, who died 40 years ago, whatever his flaws, had one great quality: his human touch to offer selfless service and ability to galvanise or influence human beings from all walks of life. Few people would ever go out of the way to help someone or serve as selflessly without aim of personal gain. Rajni championed Nehruvian secular ideas and scientific temper. As a master in public relations he revealed utmost humility. As a barrister, he never appeared against the trade unions or workers. A Fabien Socialist he opposed liberal capitalism and radical socialism. Unlike most lawyers, he did not succumb to the lure of amassing wealth. Rajni was born in Sirsa, in Gujarat, on the very day Gandhi set foot on Indian soil, on 9th January, 1915. He gained his baptism through one of Gandhi's speeches calling for the boycott of foreign goods, which was the virtual turning point of his life. Rajni toed Gandhi to organise boycott of foreign goods. Rajni was able to cros

Vadodara violence: Fine Arts Faculty alumni raise fingers at Varsity's political appointee

Hasmukh Vaghela with PM Counterview Desk In a statement, alumni of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FoFA), Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, Gujarat, referring to the “violence” by right-wing groups for displaying “objectionable” paintings that “hurt religious sentiments” at the one of India’s top fine arts institute May 5, have taken strong exception to “the assault and rustication” of one of the students, and lack of action taken against those who “violated” the institution and committed the act. Floated as an online petition seeking wider support, the FoFA alumni, in their statement, addressed to the vice chancellor, MSU, said, there should be “thorough” investigation in the whole incident and “immediate action” should be taken against syndicate member Hasmukh Vaghela, MSU, who sparked the assault, and “other co-conspirators” for breaching “university code of conduct and unlawful activities committed in broad daylight”. While the alumni statement doesn't say so, Vaghela

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UK leader cites Indian farmers' struggle one of top global fights against neoliberal order

Counterview Desk Jeremy Corbyn, member of the UK Parliament, former leader of the UK Labour Party and founder of the Peace and Justice Project , in his inaugural speech to the Progressive International’s Summit at the End of the World on May 12, 2022, has said, what is happening across globe suggests that "image of apocalypse -- bombs and raids, oil spills and wildfires, disease and contagion -- is a reality for people across the planet." In an adaptation of his speech, distributed by Globetrotter , Corbyn, however, said, there are fresh examples action, too -- by Indian farmers forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw three neo-liberal laws; by workers, communities and activists against the top giant multinational Amazon's "greed and exploitation"; and by Latin American people's struggle to say "no more to the domination by imperialism, the destruction of their communities and the abuse of their environments." Stating that this is n

Why is NIOH-ICMR 'official' making false claims on silicosis?: Health rights NGO

Counterview Desk In a letter to the Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, Dr Jagdish Parikh, trustee, health rights NGO People’s Training and Research Centre (PTRC), Vadodara, and Jagdish Patel, director, PTRC, have said that the claim being made for the use of biomarker for detection of silicosis raises concern about scientific tenacity of the diagnosis of the deadly occupational disease. The letter also objects to the reported claim by a top health official that it is possible to detect silicosis at the sub-radiological stage. It asks, “What is this subradiological stage of silicosis? We have not heard any such scientific term being used. Again, the report is using a term which is not found in any scientific literature so far. Is this term acceptable by ICMR? Is ICMR thinking of any explanation?” Text : This is with reference to our letter dated November 28, 2021. In our communication we had raised our concern about the scientific tena

Welfare? Govt of India spends just 19% of manual scavengers' rehabilitation budget

By Bharat Dogra* While the Dalit community has been always known for higher levels of poverty as well as social discrimination, even within the Dalits there is a sub-section known for even worse levels of poverty as well as social discrimination. This is the section which was traditionally involved in manual scavenging. The shocking injustice they have suffered from over the years has been widely recognized leading to a ban on manual scavenging. At the same time there is urgent need for the rehabilitation of those engaged in manual scavenging. Hence a self-employment scheme for the rehabilitation of those engaged in manual scavenging was drawn up. The allocations and the expenditure for this scheme for the last eight years are shown in the Table below: Union Budget for Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (in Rs crore) By Budget Estimate we mean the original allocation made when the budget is presented. It is clear from this table that the actual expenditure

Dalit Hindi professor intimidated, harassed by saffron brigade: 400 activists, academics

Counterview Desk Over 400 academics and activists have expressed alarm at the Lucknow University ‘protests’ on May 10 against Dr Ravi Kant, associate professor of Hindi and a Dalit, stating it is nothing but “intimidation and abuse” over his remarks on the online channel Satya Hindi, which were taken out of context and made viral on social media. “We are even more concerned that such an incident should occur within the confines a university campus, where free speech and expression without fear must ideally be the norm. Violence and intimidation over differences of opinion should never occur in a university”, the statement regrets, asking the authorities at the university and the Uttar Pradesh government to assure him and his family “protection from further harassment or intimidation.” Text: We are a group of academics and activists deeply concerned by the public heckling and intimidation of Dr. Ravi Kant, Associate Professor of Hindi and well known Dalit scholar, on the premises of t

This Maoist justified US, western Europe's anti-Soviet stance, even Bhindranwale

By Harsh Thakor* A glaring example of the extent to which those seeking to identify themselves as revolutionaries can go in making odd compromises with those normally considered as “class enemies” in Marxist jargon is late Kondapalli Seetharamiah. Few know that this Maoist organiser two decades ago was so enamoured by the Chinese three worlds theory that he called for a united front with the United States and other western countries against what he considered Soviet social imperialism! This wasn’t the only “compromise” Seetharamiah made during his career as a revolutionary. On Punjab he took a most eclectical stand of supporting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, thus soft-pedalling the terrorist Khalistani movement. Among his other opportunist alliances, about which few are aware of, include support to the Akalis in Punjab, on one hand, and the NTR Telugu Desam regime in Andhra Pradesh, on the other – all part of his anti-Congress thrust. Also known as KS, this Maoist started his career as

Counterview

Search This Blog