We stand corrected. The Tuesday morning expansion of the Union Council of Ministers wasn’t really much to write home about. Yes, there were some interesting inductions, especially those who were expected to impact the coming polls in UP, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, etc.
But, overall, it was a case of satiating ministerial aspirations of a few and filling in available slots in the ministry. Even the ejections of a couple of junior ministers were least noteworthy. However, the real thing came late in the evening, long past the time when editorial writers have retired for the day. And it held a huge significance for those in the ministry and outside.
Prime Minister Modi had done his own home work before shuffling the portfolios of his senior cabinet ministers. The message was clear: performers will be rewarded, laggards demoted or removed. And nobody other than Modi himself had undertaken the appraisal. Party President Amit Shah’s hand was visible in some of the new inductions but the reassignment of portfolios of senior ministers Modi alone was the decision-maker.
The biggest change was the transfer of Smriti Irani from HRD to Textiles. It was a demotion, and long overdue. Though she had done no wrong, had not indulged in any moral or legal breach, yet her tenure in HRD was most controversial. A feisty and aggressive Irani had created many new enemies, though she had also fired up the morale of the party faithful.
A controversial HRD Minister can hardly deliver change in the half-broken education system. Whether it was university students or teachers, Irani had wittingly or unwittingly given cause to both to take up cudgels against her. She had the right intentions, often she was blamed for no fault of hers – as in the case of the suicide of the Hyderabad University student or in that of the routine anti-national sloganeering at the JNU – but her innate aggression and tactlessness had not helped her cause.
She had to go. Her replacement Prakash Javadekar, on the other hand, is known to be a low-key, non-aggressive person who tends to rely on persuasion and tact to win his case. As Environment Minister, Javadekar discovered a fine balance between the needs of growth and environment protection. He did not accord primacy to one over the other.
Above all, given the sensitive nature of his portfolio, it is to Javadekar’s credit that throughout his stint in Environment he did not figure in any adverse controversy. His move to HRD as a full-fledged Cabinet minister will calm the campuses and, hopefully, result in some meaningful changes in the rotting education system. Given the precipitate fall in standards all around, especially in the quality of teaching, course-correction is vital in the entire education sector.
If Javadekar can carry all stakeholders involved in education at various levels he may succeed in initiating the change we need to improve the capabilities of our youths. Admittedly, Irani’s new charge, Textiles, is not insignificant either, vital as it is in exports and job creation.
In other changes, moving Venkaiah Naidu from Parliamentary Affairs to Information Broadcasting was an acknowledgement that someone with a more pleasant connect with MPs was needed to manage numbers in the two Houses. Naidu would continue to retain Urban Affairs but ceded Parliamentary Affairs to Anant Kumar. On his part, Kumar should be happy getting a relatively high-profile charge, having been virtually forgotten as Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister.
The transfer of Jayant Sinha from MoS Finance to MoS Civil Aviation was aimed at revamping the Civil Aviation Ministry though the senior minister in-charge Ashok Ganapathi Raju would continue as before. Induction of two new MoSs in Finance was clearly aimed at injecting a measure of rural tilt in the key ministry.
Ravi Shankar Prasad’s return to Law and Justice from Telecom was dictated by the need to move out the non-performer Sadananda Gowda who retains his place in the Ministry, albeit as in-charge of Programme Implementation and Statistical Department. Internal caste dynamics in the Karnataka BJP has saved his ministerial place. Shift of Birender Singh from Rural Development to Steel is a reflection on his lack of performance.
His replacement, Narendra Tomar, was rewarded for acquitting well in his previous charge of Mines. Former journalist M J Akbar has found the right slot in MEA and can be trusted to advance India’s cause in the Islamic world. He will also relieve his senior minister Sushma Swaraj of some her burden, given her poor state of health. All in all, a very purposeful reshuffle-cum-expansion was undertaken mid-term to provide good governance.
