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Political Diary
New Delhi, 23 January 2010
MOS: Miseries Of State
ALL NON-PERFORMING ASSETS?
By Poonam I Kaushish
A sense of deja vu grips one as the tiranga
is unfurled at Delhi’s majestic Rajpath and
State Capitals to celebrate India’s
60th Rebublic Day. Buoyed by a feeling of well-being thanks to a 9%
growth rate and Brand India’s
overflowing coffers we push under the carpet the revolting reality of Asli Bharat’s rising poverty,
unemployment and crime. Lulled into complacency that Aall izz
well with Mera Bharat Mahan!
Not at all. Forget the aam aadmi’s woes, the new definition of berozgari
is the plight of 45 Ministers of State (MoS) who live in tony Lutyen's Delhi, zip around in cars
with red beacons but twiddle their thumbs. Scandalously, the only work since
they became rajya mantris 8 months ago
is cutting ribbons and undertaking routine trips. Worse, they are not privy to
official files and are even unaware about routine media releases, making them
look like ‘idiots’.
Bemoaned, 33 Union MoSs’ to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh last week, “we want to learn and educate ourselves on
crucial issues but know nothing at all thanks to our seniors (Cabinet
Ministers) who keep us out of the loop . Complained another, I am young and
could contribute in making the Commonwealth Games successful but zilch." Grumbled
the next, “What is the point in persisting with the MoS rank when no work is assigned.
The position better be scrapped.”
A stunned PM assured them that he
would discuss the issue threadbare with his Cabinet colleagues to find ways and
means for better utilisation of the young and talented MoSs’. What’s new?
Recall, a similar meeting was held by the PM with his junior Ministers during
UPA-I in February 2006. It ended with Singh telling his Cabinet colleagues to
``allocate work fairly’’ and to ``guide the young MoSs’. But it was like water
off a duck’s back.
Akin too, during Narasimha Rao’s and
Vajpayee’s tenures when the litany of MoS `I-have-no-work’ complaints were
identical. Vajpayee went a step further and convened a meeting of his entire
ministerial team in June 2001 to redress the issue but his endevour failed.
What is the stumbling block? Cabinet
Ministers? Incompetent juniors, appointed because of the “clout” they wield
with the seniors? Or a legal bar? The answer is a mix of all three factors. The
nature of the Indian Constitution is such that there is very little that any PM
can do to ensure that his junior ministers are properly employed. The
distribution of work is left to the discretion of the Cabinet Minister.
There is no gainsaying that strong
Cabinet Ministers leave very little work for juniors. Thus the relationship
between a junior and his senior colleague is dependent on the senior’s
personality and rapport that he builds with his junior over time. The problem
of MoS not having work arises also because Ministers are appointed solely owing
to political considerations without giving due consideration to the actual need
for having such Ministers. Again, it is also due to the territorial or ‘greedy’
disposition of the Cabinet Ministers who like to do all the work by themselves.
Article 74 of the Constitution
envisages a Council of Ministers but is silence on the size of the Ministerial
Council. A tacit mechanism to provide space for the PM/CMs to decide the number
of his Ministers, depending on the requirement of the day and situation. Given
that the ultimate accountability and responsibility, collective, legal and
individual, is of the entire Council of Ministers to the people. The PM/CM is
only first among equals.
Recall, the Sarkaria Commission on
the Center-state Relations had recommended that the number of Ministers in the
Central and State Governments should not exceed 10% of the total members of the
Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. But trust our netagan to put the recommendation in the thanda baksa till Vajpayee’s NDA retrieved it and increased the
number of Ministers to 15%. Plainly, 81 Lok Sabha MPs could become Ministers in
a House of 543 instead of 10% which
totals 54.
However, with the advent of
coalition politics the situation turned complex. Wherein the lead partner was
compelled to bring together varied people together which in turn impeded harmony and coordination resulting in a functional
aberrations between the Cabinet minister and his junior. More. With the
bureaucrats having direct access to the Cabinet ministers and PM/ CMs added to
all-round confusion.
For instance, in Andhra the DGP
directly consults with the CM while dealing with the anti-Naxal operations,
bypassing the Home Minister. Also instances have been plenty where a State
Corporation’s MD had to be shifted for passing orders without the knowledge of his
Minister. Adding to the confusion is the bureaucrat-corporate world nexus.
It could be argued that in a coalition
milieu representing multifarious political facets, MoSs’ have a vital role in
bridging the chasm between the Government and masses. Their presence is a sine quo non to ensure administrative decentralization.
Though a small council of ministers might help rationalise Government
expenditure but to cope with present-day challenges, a larger council is the
answer.
In sum, the Prime Minister must find
opportunities to gainfully employ his Ministers of State. If he can’t, he
should do away with them. That way, at least the public money would be
saved. The way to break impasse? First,
all files should be routed through the Ministers of State. Second, work
allocation should be done by the PMO, and it should not be left at the
discretion of the Cabinet Minister. The Ministers of State should get more
power to ensure faster decision making along with radically changing the system
of power sharing between Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State.
Clearly, we cannot have a situation
where we have Ministers who do absolutely no work at all. Thanks to their
recalcitrant seniors or just dispense with them. Look at Big Brother US, it is
three times bigger than India
but has only 16 Ministers (called Secretaries) to run the Government
efficiently and effectively. The US Constitution bars the President for adding
even one Minister. The Indian government has 33 Cabinet Ministers, almost
double that of the U.S.
Also compared to 45 MoSs’, there are only 22
Dy Secretaries, (MoS) Arguably, if 16 Secretaries and 22 Dy Secretaries
can run the U.S. Government, why do we need 33 Cabinet Ministers and 45 MoSs’to
govern the a country?
Look at the irony, as UPAII plays
the blame-ping-pong with serious challenges like rising prices and berozgari, we have an absurd situation
of having rajya mantris as “non-performing
assets” The only solution to decrease the public expenditure is to decrease the
number of Ministers by Constitutionally limiting it to 10 per cent of the total
543 number of the Lower House of Parliament which comes to 54. Twenty one
Cabinet Ministers and 33 Ministers of State should, and would be, reasonably
and economically enough to govern the federal government of India.Time for
Manmohan Singh to wake up the “slow elephant” from its slumber in attending to
serious challenges facing the nation. Truly make India hum aall izz well. Jai Hind! ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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