Democracy is a system of governance by all the eligible members of state who are typically elected through an electoral process. These elected representatives institute various policies to avoid negative effect in the system and confer some positive benefits. One such policy “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” was a statement of intent, implemented as a protocol or procedure and was adopted to assist in both subjective and objective decision making. This policy was framed to ensure minimum interference in working as it was assumed that for decades we have had an extraordinarily large governments with equally poorer quality of governance. However, as is said, it is not the policies alone but the people, for whom these policies are meant, who are the real driving force and run the government.
To strengthen this fact an attempt to give a fresh impetus to government or for that matter governance, about three dozen fresh faces were inducted into the council of ministers and a dozen were dropped. This is probably for the first time in independent India that resignation of a dozen ministers, including six cabinet rank ministers and one minister of state, was sought in one go. This reshuffle which occurred after 25 months into the second term or seven years into full term invited a mixed reaction from the critics as it occurred at a time when the voices of dissent were precipitously raised from different corners.
This type of a massive revamp to reboot governance cannot be thought of without keeping in mind the political, electoral and social considerations. The induction of four party leaders from a state that in recent elections has not given mandate in their favour and four ministers from a state including a confidante of current chief minister who has refused to give up the rein of power despite the party high command taking an adverse view of that cannot be thought of as being devoid of political motivation. The induction of a rebel from an opposition party is a reward for shifting loyalties and also a bait for the fence sitters.
The electoral consideration as well cannot be distanced apart as emphasis was laid upon the induction of representatives from the five states that are going for elections next year. About one-fifth of the new faces are drawn from the state which is going to polls early next year and three additions to the union council of ministers apart from promotions to two others are from the states that are going to polls late next year. However, keeping in mind the fact that every year elections of one or the other states are being held, it might be taken with a pinch of salt that the reshuffle has nothing to do with the electoral state of the country.
The social consideration is also reflected in this reshuffle as not just marginalised sections of society but also marginalised regions like the north east are included in the induction. The number of other backward class (OBC) members has more than doubled from 13 to 27 while the representation of Dalits has gone up four-fold from 3 to 12. The number of women has gone up significantly with the induction of seven new faces taking the total tally to 11. The clock has, thus, rolled back to the same old caste calculus at the heart of national level governance despite so much for all the grandstanding about New India in last few years.
This reshuffle has revived the old axiom of the cabinet system of government that a non-performing minister ought to be shown the door. It has also strengthened the fact that there is a distinction between individuals and the government. The inept handling of second wave of Covid, open battle with the social media giants like facebook and twitter, issue of the migrant labourers during the first wave and an indecisive role with regard to the CBSE board exams this year, all got piled up together, took a heavy toll on the government and the respective heads were shown the door for their lack of performance. Keeping in view the sky rocket increase in prices of fuel and petroleum products, the petroleum ministry was also reshuffled. It seems that this reshuffle has been used as a strategy to re-energise the core of the cabinet but surprisingly, the two ministries of external affairs and finance were untouched as if they have brought a dazzling brilliance to the table when the fact remains that the scorecard of both these portfolios is very poor and barely passable.
Spotting the right talent in any given situation is the primary rule of governance. The current inclusion of professionals and having the highest number of women in cabinet are important signals not only for electoral victories but also for foreign investments, economic revival and increased manufacturing capabilities. However, with the petrol prices crossing Rs. 100/ litre mark, 230 million reportedly under poverty line, millions of jobless youth and a possibility of third wave in near future, an out of box solution is required to disregard the suffering of people rather than a mere symbolism of change in faces and portfolios. Whether the new council is better equipped to roll back the misgovernance and incompetence cannot be answered in a simple affirmative manner and only a clinical assessment at later date will determine whether the reshuffle has worked or not.
Dr. Pawan Suri
Chief Cardiologist
SGL SuperSpeciality Hospital
Jalandhar, Punjab
Email: psuricardio@gmail.com
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