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Modi's new Union cabinet must reflect talent, not talent deficit

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Minhaz Merchant
Minhaz MerchantFeb 22, 2016 | 15:51

Modi's new Union cabinet must reflect talent, not talent deficit

Talent deficit. Poor bench strength. Underperforming ministers. The murmurs are growing louder. The prime minister's recent decision to convene a special cabinet meeting every month (apart from regular cabinet meetings every Wednesday) to specifically review the progress of various ministries shows he recognises the problem.

A cabinet reshuffle is around the corner, probably after next Monday's Union Budget. What are Prime Minister Narendra Modi's options? There needs to be a fair bit of reshuffling to give the cabinet balance and strength.

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A Union cabinet meeting of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. [File photo]

Here's what Modi's new cabinet could look like.

Home minister

Sushma Swaraj has the toughness and experience to head this vital ministry in place of the soft-spoken Rajnath Singh. Her first-hand knowledge of Pakistan as external affairs minister will be an asset. She is forceful, articulate and driven. Swaraj would work well with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to revitalise India's counter-terrorism strategy and rebuild the country's covert operational capability.

External affairs minister

Arun Jaitley is the cabinet's most articulate minister. As the new external affairs minister he could continue the excellent job Sushma Swaraj has done and help Modi consolidate the foreign policy gains India has made in the past 20 months.  

Finance minister

This is one of the cabinet's most sensitive and important ministries. Modi's re-election in 2019 needs robust job-creating economic growth. As road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari has been a standout performer in the NDA government. His ministry is building, on average, 18 km of roads a day. Infrastructure projects too are moving ahead at rapid pace.

As PWD minister in the Maharashtra government in 1995-99, Gadkari built the Mumbai-Pune expressway. He brings private sector professionalism to government. Moving him to the finance ministry would be welcomed by industry. His pragmatism and result-oriented approach are needed in a ministry dominated by powerful, status-quoist bureaucrats. Gadkari can retain additional charge of the road transport and highways ministry, one of the government's success stories. As he told a business conference recently: "Today, we have already finalised road contractors for 1.5 lakh km. The target is 5 lakh km for five years. We'll complete this target within three years. Things are moving fast, corruption-free and time-bound. As per a World Bank report, Rs. 1 crore of investment in roads gives jobs to 800 people. Through my ministry, I will give jobs to 50 lakh people and will add 2 per cent to GDP. It will give a boost to the steel and cement industries."

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Gadkari enjoys the confidence of RSS leaders and can get them on board over key economic reforms. As finance minister for the next 38 months of this government's tenure, Gadkari would also restore confidence in the Indian economy among both global and domestic business leaders.

Defence minister

Manohar Parrikar is just getting to grips with a complex ministry long under the influence of shrewd ministry of defence (MoD) bureaucrats, arms dealers and their proxies. Parrikar has brought a whiff of integrity to the ministry. But he needs a strong MoS with technical knowledge of what the armed forces require. The decision to indigenise weapons production is a move in the right direction. But much more needs to be done to modernise India's under-equipped armed forces. Parrikar's performance remains under watch.

Parliamentary affairs minister

Rajnath Singh enjoys Modi's confidence but has proved an uninspiring home minister. A thakur, he is an honest, straightforward politician of the old school who could do well as parliamentary affairs minister in place of Venkaiah Naidu (who can continue to hold charge of the urban development, housing and urban poverty alleviation portfolio). While Naidu has Modi's ear, he hasn't been able to break the logjam with the Opposition. The emollient approach of Rajnath Singh would be more productive in parliament.  

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Railways minister

Suresh Prabhu, after a slow start, has begun to hit his stride. Improvements and innovations in the railways are noticeable. Prabhu, however, has been criticised for lacking speed and imagination in turning around the railways, one of India's biggest employers. His performance too will remain under watch as he presents the Railway Budget on Thursday, February 25.

Power and coal minister

Piyush Goyal has been a standout success. On his watch, coal auctions have become transparent. Village electrification is gathering pace with information on progress available online in realtime. Goyal should be retained and promoted to full cabinet rank (he is currently MoS with independent charge).

Commerce and industry minister

Nirmala Sitharaman, contrary to recent criticism, has performed well. She is honest, hardworking and responsive. With more experience she will serve India's commercial interests well, especially in crucial World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. The decline in merchandise exports by around 18 per cent is a challenge Sitharaman will need to overcome. Like Goyal, she should be promoted as full cabinet minister (she too currently is MoS with independent charge).

HRD minister

A talented technocrat and educationist, TV Mohandas Pai would be excellent in this crucial ministry. He has hands-on experience of how the education sector can be reformed. He is the only outsider in this refurbished cabinet but has impeccable credentials for the job. If this experiment works well, it would open the window to more technocrats being inducted into the cabinet as is common practice in the United States.

Information and broadcasting minister

Smriti Irani would ensure that the Modi government's achievements do not go unheralded. She is spunky, articulate and media-savvy. Her talent would flourish in the I&B ministry and help the government vastly improve its communications strategy.

Key ministries like environment (Prakash Javadekar), agriculture (Radha Mohan Singh), telecom (Ravi Shankar Prasad), petroleum (Dharmendra Pradhan) and civil aviation (Ashok Gajapathi Raju), among others, need strengthening with the induction of additional ministers of state who possess domain expertise.

Technocrats such as E Sreedharan, who developed Delhi's metro, geneticist MS Swaminathan, who led India's agricultural renaissance, and Nandan Nilekani, who helped create the Aadhaar biometric card, could be given advisory roles to infuse the government with greater depth.

In sum then, this is how to top ten key ministries in a reshuffled Modi cabinet should ideally look:

Home minister: Sushma Swaraj

External affairs minster: Arun Jaitley

Finance minister: Nitin Gadkari

Defence minister: Manohar Parrikar

Parliamentary affairs minister: Rajnath Singh

Railways minister: Suresh Prabhu

Power and coal minister: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and industry minister: Nirmala Sitharaman

HRD minister: TV Mohandas Pai

Information and broadcasting minister: Smriti Irani

It's important for Modi to rebuild a strong, performance-driven cabinet as he approaches the second anniversary of his prime ministership. The 2019 Lok Sabha election looms over a murky political horizon.

Last updated: February 22, 2016 | 16:39
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