New-look govt must show results quickly
While all significant changes in the council of ministers, like the one on Sunday, will have strong political underpinnings, it is clear any altering of the matrix must also aim at enhancing policy outcomes. In this sense, the recent reshuffle does induce positive expectations.
The time horizon before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s revamped team — in some ways a new-look team, and in particular a Congress Party one — is just about a year and a half. This can shrink if the next general election is forced before it’s due. This really means the government must act in a focused manner, intent on delivering major policy goals quickly. The way to do this is to identify targets and push hard in key areas, especially infrastructure and poverty alleviation.
Power, corporate affairs and housing and poverty alleviation have been entrusted to young, energetic hands with a good track record. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot can press on the accelerator if given political backing. Ajay Maken, who has done splendidly in the sports and youth affairs ministry, has been raised to Cabinet rank and has given notice of possessing a steady pair of hands and a cool head. Bringing back the urban poor to his party’s side by enabling quick policy steps to secure poor people’s housing and livelihood options is his remit. His sense of imagination and abilities to ensure implementation will be on test.
India’s railway network has fallen on hard days recently, thanks to the populist and parochial outlook of those in charge. This must change rapidly if the country’s bulk carrier of people and goods is to play the role expected of it in deepening the quality of our infrastructure. Pawan Bansal, a low-key but conscientious minister, is expected, unlike his predecessors, to align the railways to the broad economic vision of the Prime Minister for pushing the economy forward.
S. Jaipal Reddy, a suave political intellectual, finds himself moved from petroleum to science and technology. Mr Reddy himself said Monday that he had been taken into confidence about this by the PM and has no regrets about moving on. But the change in his portfolio has been interpreted by some as a move to assuage corporate interests. This is plainly unfair to M. Veerappa Moily, who now presides over petroleum. Besides, S&T does need a man of vision who does not answer to short-run political expediency. The real test of the new Team Manmohan will be if it can demonstrate it can get work done in a hurry, especially when the political environment is tricky or unhelpful.
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