Govt panel for fewer ministries

NEW DELHI: Messrs. Kamal Nath, Mamata Banerjee, Praful Patel and GK Vasan would have to sit tight on one single chair if a paper doing its customary power corridor rounds has its way. The Administrative Reforms Commission, headed previously by law minister Veerappa Moily, wants related ministries to be clubbed with one Cabinet minister co-ordinating with a junior cabinet colleague and ministers of state.

Hence Mamata Banerjee���s railways, Kamal Nath���s surface transport, Praful Patel���s civil aviation and Vasan���s shipping will all come under a jumbo transport ministry. Similarly, Murli Deora, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Dr Farooq Abdullah too will have to choose between themselves with the petroleum, power and renewable energy ministries paving way for a ���super��� energy ministry.

Well, with the coalition pressures to accommodate caste, creed and region prevailing over concepts of prudence, it���s anyone���s guess what would be the fate of the 26-page note.

However, the new government has circulated the note on administrative reforms in India with a recommendation that the number of ministries at the Centre should be brought down to 20-25 with the clubbing of different ministries, an official in the ministry of personnel who did not wish to be named, told SundayET. It was circulated among secretaries of various ministries, and SundayET has managed to get a copy of the note on administrative reforms sent by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions to various ministries.

The recommendations, if implemented, may not necessarily lead to the curtailment of the total size of the ministers as the concept of introducing the posts of first cabinet minister, second cabinet minister and ministers of state has been suggested, the official said. The first minister would provide overall leadership and co-ordination in the ministry and related departments.

Factoring in political sensitivity

At present, there are about 50 ministries, and if the various departments are also taken into account, the count goes beyond 80.

The recommendations, in fact, have factored in political sensitivity of curtailment of ministries in the coalition era. ���It would be unrealistic to expect a curtailment in the size of the council of ministers in an era of coalition politics. Instead, a more pragmatic approach would be to retain the existing size of the council of ministers but increase the level of coordination among departments by providing a senior cabinet minister to head each of the 20-25 closely related departments,��� the note added.