New Delhi, Feb. 13: Lack of performance would be a major criteria for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to axe a section of ministers seen as non-performing assets (NPAs) in his Cabinet.
Though no date has yet been fixed for a long overdue Cabinet reshuffle, a necessity is being felt to hasten the exercise. Some ministers are burdened with nearly four to five ministries and this is affecting the performance of the government.
There are also rumblings following the dominance of Lok Sabha members in the Union Council of Ministers. Of the existing strength of 69, fifty-six ministers are from the Lok Sabha. The government can still take three more ministers.
The Congress high command is also likely to hold talks with the DMK to replace Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s son, chemicals and fertilisers minister M.K. Azhagiri, with his sister Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP.
Meanwhile known to be close to the Prime Minister, the executive director of the World Bank, Mr Pulok Chatterjee, is tipped to replace Mr K.M. Chandrashekhar as Union
Cabinet Secretary.
Sources disclosed that of late the government had been feeling the need to expand the Cabinet since a section of ministers were managing a host of portfolios. For instance, minister of state (independent charge) Prithivraj Chavan has five ministries in his kitty — science and technology, earth sciences, personnel, public grievances and pensions and parliamentary affairs and he is also MoS in charge of the PMO.
Union Cabinet minister B.K. Handique is looking after the ministries of mines and development of the North-eastern region while Mr C.P. Joshi is Union minister for panchayati raj and rural development. Kumari Saleja handles the ministries of tourism, housing and urban poverty alleviation. Mr Salman Khursheed is minister for minority affairs and for corporate affairs. Mr Shriprakash Jaiswal is coal minister and minister of statistics and programme implementation. "Some of the ministries the ministers are manning have no connection whatsoever," a senior Congress leader pointed out.
The government is also taking a hard look at the performance of a section of ministers, including those from allied parties. Some of the ministries which have come under the scanner include health (Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad), labour and employment (Mr Mallikarjun Kharge) and women and child development (Ms Krishna Tirath). The government had also not been happy with the performance of Mr Pawar’s ministry. However, he being an ally, the decision needs to be "taken at a political level", a Congress leader pointed out. Similarly, the party would hold parleys with the DMK supremo to take a decision.
Sanjay Basak