So India finally has a PM. Its about time. But I am a little disappointed. There are very few fresh faces in the current administration. Nearly all of them are from the old order. No doubt, they bring plenty of experience with them, but what about the crucial fresh blood? So lets see what are the pluses and the minuses of the new administration:
Pluses:
The new cabinet brings with it, years of first hand knowledge of running a government. At least three ministers, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Natwar Singh and one other (I forget which) have served as India's ambassadors to Pakistan under very trying circumstance. These experiences will definitely come in handy during the peace moves.
The current cabinet has not one, but two ex-finance ministers. Both, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Dr. P Chidambram are well respected by the business community. The markets have responded very favorably to them.
Mr. Singh handling finance for the time being is good, and Mr. Chidambram handling commerce is equally better, since he has the added knowledge of WTO.
Also heartening is the rewarding of loyal party workers like Mr. Snail duty, who has now been made a cabinet minister. He may also get a portfolio. It was very heartening to see Mr. Dutt take the pledge, since he is a good guy who has done a lot towards the cause of secularism, and thus deserves the cabinet.
The cabinet has given ample representation to everyone, dalits, women, Northeast, Muslims, Christians etc. In that aspect, it is a good cabinet.
Minuses:
The cabinet, while overflowing with experience, lacks in sheer youth power. Sure, Messrs Natwar Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar may have a lot of experience between them, but they have been out of touch for a long long time. Times have moved on, and newer factor have come into play in the Indo-Pak relations, such as the overwhelming presence of USA, international terrorism. Will they be able to address issues by taking these into account? I most certainly hope so, but the doubt still persists.
Messrs Singh and Chidambram have an enviable track record as foreign ministers, but their ideologies are not in keeping with the prevailing thought. Both of them favor selective disinvestment (my own thought as well) unlike Mr. Arun Shourie, who was a champion of complete disinvestment. Already, the markets have crashed twice in one week. This should serve as a warning to the unbridled optimism at the thought of getting two FMs at the price of one.
Mr. Singh is expected, in all probability, to retain the finance ministry with himself. That could be a drain on his ability to govern as the PM. Commentators have been saying that there have been precedents in Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but did these two every deliver a memorable budget? Given India's delicate position at this frame of time (possible BPO backlash from US, agriculture needing to be propped up, devaluation of the Rupee), distribution of duties is the order of the day. Mr. Singh should have delegated the the duties to someone equally qualified, and then acted as the guiding spirit to that person during the drafting of the budget.
Yes, loyal party workers are being rewarded, but this raises the uneasy question, 'Is party loyalty the only qualification for a cabinet post?'. The Congress, and the public at large need to be beware of this. P M Sayeed lost the Lok Sabha election from Lakshadweep, but he still gets a cabinet berth. What is the rationale for this? Quite simply, P M Sayeed has stuck by the Gandhis during their darkest hours. But I still support the election of Mr. Sunil Dutt to the cabinet.
Representation yes, but still not enough. Women are only 11% of the cabinet, and when you take in to factor that Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, a woman, is leader of Congress, one would have expected more women representation. And the Muslim representation has more to do with party loyalty than with actual representation.
More rants will follow. Have to get back to work.
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