A major expansion

Portfolio reshuffle more significant than induction of ministers

The Union council of ministers on Tuesday saw its second biggest expansion since the formation of the National Democratic Alliance government under Narendra Modi as prime minister. On May 26, 2014, Mr Modi had taken oath along with 45 members to be part of his council of ministers. Less than six months later, 21 more members were inducted into the council. On Tuesday, 19 more members took oath to become ministers of state along with the minister of state for environment, forest and climate change, Prakash Javadekar, who was sworn in as a Cabinet minister. In addition, five ministers of state were dropped from the council. The new ministers have been drawn from 10 states including three of them from Uttar Pradesh, which will go to the polls next year. Five of the new ministers are Dalits, two are from minority communities and quite a few are from other backward classes, indicating how the exercise has given due weight to both regional and caste representation. In the process, however, Mr Modi, who had earlier promised to usher in minimum government to ensure maximum governance, has now got a 78-strong ministry, almost as large as the one that his predecessor had. It is still smaller than the maximum size mandated by law, but the earlier optimism that Mr Modi would restructure the ministries to reduce the size of the council of ministers and make it lean now appears to be clearly misplaced.

The reallocation of ministerial portfolios, announced later on Tuesday evening, is even more significant than the expansion of the council, as it paves the way for new leadership in key economic ministries. Mr Javadekar is the new human resource development minister, replacing Smriti Irani, who has been shifted to the textiles ministry. Mr Javadekar has probably been rewarded for his sensitive handling of environment-related issues and expediting clearances of projects stuck due to environment norms, just as Ms Irani’s removal will be attributed to her controversy-ridden tenure and many pronouncements that made her unpopular as well. It, however, could be argued that the textiles portfolio is of critical importance to jobs creation, and Ms Irani has got an important economic ministry requiring close supervision. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been divested of the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry and now has to deal with two new junior ministers, as Jayant Sinha has been shifted to the civil aviation ministry. Similarly, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu has got the I&B ministry while being shifted out of the parliamentary affairs ministry, which will now be looked after by Ananth Kumar. Even more significant is the decision to entrust the minister of state for railways, Manoj Sinha, with the additional independent charge of the communications ministry, a portfolio that Ravi Shankar Prasad has now given up in lieu of handling only electronics and information technology, beside the new responsibility of the law and justice ministry. Performance has certainly been one of the criteria for the reallocation of portfolios.

What Mr Modi tried to achieve from the reshuffle is also evident from the choice of the five ministers of state who were dropped. All the five axed ministers belonged to ministries overseeing the social sector – tribal affairs, panchayati raj, water resources, agriculture and human resource development. This was perhaps a reflection of the unsatisfactory performance of these ministers. The replacements also seem to be part of the government’s plan to beef up the implementation of schemes in these areas, which received a big impetus from the last Budget. It is also necessary to point out that by deciding to elevate only Mr Javadekar to the Cabinet rank and giving him a key portfolio, Mr Modi has sent out a discreet signal to others with aspirations to become Cabinet ministers that they need to wait longer for such rewards. Separately, questions on the criterion of age in deciding the eligibility of remaining a minister have also arisen after Tuesday’s reshuffle. Those above 75 years were reported to have been excluded from the ministry at the time of the government formation in May 2014. There are now a couple of ministers who may have either crossed or are close to crossing the age of 75, but they continue to be part of the Cabinet. More clarity on the age criterion and its observance with consistency can help clear doubts on this score.