Who wants to be a Cabinet Minister in India?

This blog is not about criticizing any particular political party. I have tried to maintain total impartiality in the views expressed herein.

Becoming a Cabinet Minister is no child play and should not be subject to any seat sharing formula. There is no harm with anybody becoming a Minister but to become a Cabinet Minister one has to have certain amount of administrative experience. A green horn should not be made a Cabinet Minister directly no matter what the political compulsions are. Just like a law was passed limiting the size of the ministries, it is time that a law has to be passed prescribing the minimum administrative experience an individual has to posses before being made a minister and most importantly a Cabinet Minister.

The Cabinet of this country is the highest decision making body. Any economic investment by the Government totaling more than Rs.150 crores has to be decided by the Cabinet. The Cabinet also decides on important matters of security, laws and economic affairs. A Cabinet Minister is the person in whose table the buck finally stops in a Ministry. He has to answer all the Starred and Unstarred Questions of his Ministry. In these days of televised Parliaments, handling a Starred Question without the required expertise and tact can be hugely embarrassing for the ruling party. It must be noted that not every Department is entitled to a Cabinet Minister. Only a select few get a Cabinet Minister to head them. Most of the ministries are managed by the Prime Minister either through Minister of States or Secretaries of the concerned Departments. This is the importance of a Cabinet Minister but given the eagerness to appoint anyone as Cabinet Minister (in the past decade or so) the same has been trivialized.

Ideally an individual has to serve as a Member of the Parliament and prove his credentials through the type of questions he asks; his debating skills; use of MPLAD money and if required be, by the quality of Private Members Bills that he brings forward. It is then a MP should be nominated to the various Standing Committees of the Parliament. The Standing Committees review on regular basis working of various Government Departments. There should be no serious objection if a MP is directly nominated to one of the Standing Committees. Based on a MP’s contribution in these Standing Committees, he is then nominated to the Public Accounts Committee. Any Government Servant worth his salt dreads the day when he has to face the Public Accounts Committee. This consists of elite Members of the Parliament (either in credibility or experience). A ruling party MP who serves with distinction on the PAC is to be considered for a Minister of State; later as Minister of State with Independent and finally a Cabinet Minister.

I am not against making exception to this rule provided the MP in question has handled Government work in a senior capacity or has been part of any international organisation or a corporate body or a renowned NGO. Such exceptions are welcome because they increase the credibility of the Government but to appoint a first time MP as a Cabinet Minister based on political considerations is not doing anybody proud. It is all the more shameful to see the so called “educated electronic media” clamoring for young MPs to be made as Cabinet Ministers. It is as good as “Child Marriage”.

Bollywood Shockers of the 70s

http://indiaregion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/05/presenting-shockers-from-bollywood-of-the-70-s.htm

Bollywood Shockers from 70s

Here is the link

Bollywood

Reflecting the apathy of the Educated Indian Middle Class Voter

Click on the link below to read this interesting blog of mine on sulekha.com

http://indiaregion.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/05/i-am-the-educated-indian-middle-class-adult-my-entry.htm