Ahead of the promised “expansive changes” in his Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are engaged in a careful exercise to assess the performance of ministers, their suitability in current portfolios, and gaps in caste and regional representation. The fate of Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran continues to hang in the balance.
With clear vacancies in the Raj Bhavans of Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and some incumbents keen on a shift — including back into active politics — the reshuffle exercise is likely to involve governors too, party and government sources said.
Even as speculation rages on the timing and enormity of the changes, Congress sources said the exercise will also be segued with filling the blanks in the party organisation, while keeping an eye on the crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab due next year.
The Congress hopes a dramatic change in the Council of Ministers will energise its workers and send out a message that it means business.
Keywords: Cabinet reshuffle, Maran, Raja, Chavan
Like all the earlier reshuffle, the coming one will also be a damp squib. Press reports indicate the dreadful prospect of a failed home minsiter coming back to the central cabinet should worry us; added to that is the new drama of the corporate affairs minister to ward of his possible removal from the cabinet. The reshuffle therefore is one more 'amusing; item like the Liok Pal Bill which has been engaging the attention of the govetrnment so seriously.
The evaluation of performance of the ministers be done every 3 or 6 months regularly on a rigorous phase with a point system which would include monitoring their properties. The ministers who fail to maintain minimum required points need to leave the Government. Unless otherwise the Governments have some policies like this in place the Government will be nothing more than a mess.
One thought that in our system of government ministers report to the Prime Minister and they are appointed or removed from office by the President as advised by the PM. It follows therefore that any appraisal of the performance of the ministers has to be done by the Prime Minister. Besides, such appraisal may involve looking into government secrets.Sonia Gandhi,though having a Cabinet rank, is not sworn to secrecy as other ministers do. It is strange therefore that "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are engaged in a careful exercise to assess the performance of ministers, their suitability in current portfolios, and gaps in caste and regional representation" as reported by the Hindu.
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