UP renews push for 'minimum govt', looks to reorganise ministries

Espousing the suggestions of federal think tank Niti Aayog, Uttar Pradesh is looking to cut the size of ministries for a leaner government.

In 2017, Niti Aayog had asked the state to reorganise ministries and departments to ensure better governance, accountability and swifter decision-making. 

However, the proposal could not be implemented owing to various reasons, including general elections.

The state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday considered the proposal for the reorganisation exercise, which would primarily include merging some ministries and creating some others for better synergy with the Centre.

The cabinet decided to have some more deliberations on the issue before implementation.

“Since, some new ministries have been created at the Centre, including for water conservation, the state will revisit the restructuring proposal for having corresponding ministries in UP as well under the ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ spirit expounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said UP health minister and spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh.

Singh was the chairman of the joint working group, which also comprised Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and the state chief secretary. The group was tasked with preparing a roadmap for speedier socio-economic development of UP as per the action points and indicators suggested by the think tank.

“The state government is looking to clear the reorganisation proposal at the earliest,” Singh said. Although he did not assign any time frame, the proposal is likely to pass the muster soon. Currently, the strength of the council of ministers stands at 43, including the CM.

Last year, the Adityanath government decided to disband government schemes that had outlived their utility. Besides, non-essential government posts were also considered for abolition. The state had constituted two different committees to identify non-essential schemes and posts in the government departments. For example, in health sector, there were three different ministries, which were proposed to be clubbed into one.

In consultation with Niti Aayog, UP had later constituted 9 committees related to separate socioeconomic verticals viz. nutrition, health, education, drinking water, rural development, irrigation, water resources, industry, agriculture and sanitation.

In his November 2018 visit to Lucknow, Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar had lauded the government for its industrial roadmap and noted UP was progressing on the development agenda.