The long awaited cabinet reshuffle of the Narendra Modi government, its third and possibly its final before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is set to take place by Sunday afternoon.
Laggards among the ministers are being dropped. Performers among ministers of state, including those with independent charges, are set to be promoted. Some of the leaders who have excelled in organisational work will be included in the council of ministers, and some ministers asked to return to party work.
New ally Janata Dal (United) will get representation. Existing allies, who need to be placated in the run up to the 2019 polls, could get more ministerial berths. There is still no clarity on whether AIADMK might be included in the cabinet.
However, the shape of the forthcoming expansion and reshuffle would highlight the failures of the Modi government on some of its key promises – job growth and skill development, improvements promised in the farm sector and Ganga rejuvenation.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised 20 million jobs a year if voted to power. However, job growth has been abysmal, and significantly lower than the last three years of the UPA 2 government. The PM and BJP chief Amit Shah have argued how the MUDRA Scheme has provided loans to over 80 million people, which in turn has provided employment in the informal sector.
But it's becoming increasingly apparent that the over two percent dip in GDP growth, the impact of demonetisation and inability of the industry to invest resulted in poor job growth. The Modi government’s plans to impart skills to a large section of the youths has fallen way short of its targets. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, despite his hard work in what was a newly carved out ministry in 2014, couldn’t meet the PM’s expectations as the minister of state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship. (more)
