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Khursheed gets Law, Railways for Dinesh Trivedi; Last reshuffle before the polls, says Manmohan
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made two key changes in his Union Council of Ministers on Tuesday: Jairam Ramesh, whose high-profile tenure as Environment and Forests Minister led to the enforcement of long-neglected environmental norms for major industrial projects, was moved to Rural Development, his place being taken by Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, now Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge. And M. Veerappa Moily, whose stint as Law Minister saw the government suffering several embarrassments in the Supreme Court, was replaced by Salman Khursheed.
The change in Mr. Ramesh's position was, of course, sugar-coated: he was promoted to the Cabinet rank and given Rural Development, a critical portfolio for the United Progressive Alliance, where his past involvement with designing, and later, monitoring the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme — as a member of the National Advisory Council in UPA-1 — is expected to be useful.
On the other hand, ministerial sources said Mr. Moily was downgraded by being shifted to Corporate Affairs, just as Vilasrao Deshmukh's key portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj were substituted with the relatively less important Science and Technology and Earth Sciences.
However, Dr. Singh's promise of “expansive” changes was, in the end, not dramatic enough to warrant the adjective “substantive,” though as many as five Cabinet Ministers (including Dayanidhi Maran, who recently submitted his resignation) and two Ministers of State were axed, and there was infusion of fresh blood with eight new faces, including party veteran V. Kishore Chandra Deo as Cabinet Minister for Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj.
Dr. Singh told journalists he had tried to make the changes as “comprehensive” as possible and that the reshuffle reflected “the balance necessary between various States,” and “considerations” of efficiency and continuity in government.
The Prime Minister also created a stir by saying “this is the last reshuffle before the polls,” a statement that was seized upon by many Ministers at the tea after the swearing-in at the Rashtrapati Bhavan's grand Ashoka Hall as meaning there would be no further changes till the general elections in 2014.
However, asked whether he meant 2014, Dr. Singh said: “Yes, this is the last reshuffle … but there is no finality in life.” He stressed that he had kept two slots vacant for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam as doing so was part of the “coalition dharma.”
Those who lost their jobs were Dayanidhi Maran, Murli Deora, B.K. Handique, M.S. Gill and Kantilal Bhuria, and Ministers of State S. Sai Prathap and Arun S Yadav. If Mr. Maran's exit was precipitated by allegations of corruption, party sources cited poor health for the retirement of Mr Handique and Mr. Deora (who won a berth for his son), and inefficiency for Mr. Gill. Mr. Bhuria has been asked to focus on his job as Congress chief of Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled State, and Mr. Yadav drafted as a party secretary, while Mr. Sai Prathap was perceived to be a Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy loyalist.
The government also suffered some embarrassment when Ministers of State Gurudas Kamat and Srikant Jena, who were elevated and given independent charge, expressed their unhappiness at not being given Cabinet status.
As predicted, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi became the new Minister for Railways. Beni Prasad Verma was upgraded to the Cabinet. Paban Singh Ghatowar was sworn in as MoS with independent charge, while the five new Ministers of State are Sudip Bandopadhyay (Trinamool), Charan Das Mahant, Jitendra Singh, Milind Deora and Rajeev Shukla (all the four Congress).
Keywords: Cabinet reshuffle
Comments:
The loss is not of Jairam, but of the environment which has lost the only patron it has had in the government for many years. There are, of course, winners too. Jairam was elevated to the position of a cabinet minister and the business corporations and their friends in the government got out of the way an impediment to the implementation of their growth-at-any cost agenda.
Everything is fine with reshuffle but one vital thing which is not easily digestable is the portfolio of telecom ministry. although there is almost no chance of A.Raja getting clean chit in very near future. so this portfolio could have been given to some other person from DMK. but UPA has not taken any step in this regard. does it means that UPA Thinks Raja will be provided clean chit by hook or by crook, very soon.same is the case in case of miniter of textiles(earlier discharged by Dayanidhi Maran.
so can we think that the government is supporting corruption by reserving the portfolio for alleged politicians..
I liked Jairam Ramesh becoming an activist minister in environment ministry.Getting on rural he should continue with the same attitude looking at times at the grass root levels how money that is meant for different schemes like MNREGA have been gone waste with the money laundering mechanism at work.
Jairam Ramesh has not 'lost environment'. The losing aspect of the headline is not correct. When you say one has lost something, that means he has desired it and wanted it and had it. In the case of JR it was not so. The headline in this case provokes a feeling of some setniment of losing some coveted thing in life. On the contrary, this briliant IITis had much more difficult task bestowed on his shoulders, that is Rural India. For those Page 3 readers, that means comparing cricket game with that of a gully football played on weekends. For very long time, the Indian media had considered rural development as that of an easy task and every tom dick and harry can handle it. No Sir, today, the rural India is craving for development for its roads, for its marketing of its products, for supply of raw materials and machinery, for civilisation, for electricity and for care from the government.It was rural India that saved the situation during sanctions after nuclear test.
I am satisfied with the union cabinet reshuffle. But the one thing that made me discontent is the continuation of Sharad Pawar in the union cabinet. As Mr.Pawar is already holding the President-ship of the ICC he cannot be continued in the cabinet as he cannot manage two affairs. He may neglect his portfolios assigned to him & may pay due importance to the ICC's work. Hence my opinion is that Mr.Pawar must resign either of his posts.
Although this resuffling does not bring the revolution against corruption and will not be beneficial for the country, because the one that removed and the one that comes in the picture both are corrupt. Now a days politics becomes the professsion of earning money/business/power instead of social service for the public, in brief the purpose and will power have lost. Instead of resuffling the Congress needs to concentrate on development, price rise..etc.
Many says, since Jairam Ramesh was doing a great job as an Environmental minister, his portfolio shouldn't have been changed. In my view, he already won the hearts of many nature lovers and set a bench mark for the ministry. Now whoever comes will try to keep the standards. Hope he creates a bench mark in Rural development too.It was Mr. T.N. Sheshan, who brought the post of Chief Election Commissioner into lime light and legacy continued. Hope the same applies to the current situation.
I think the current reshuffle in the union ministry is very effective. Jairam Ramesh is a burden....It is only because of him Kerala is ignored in the power sector
I wonder whether a lobby forced Jairam Ramesh's exit from environment? so they could cut more trees with no remorse?