Legally beating the cap on Ministry size : Parliamentary Secretaries
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 09, 2012 -
The five MLAs appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries on October 08 2012 :: Pix - TSE
Necessity is the mother of invention, or so it is widely believed. Twist this a little and here it could well mean the need for appeasement is the key to legally beating the cap on the size of Ministry.
After Parliament passed the 91st Amendment Act in 2003, 'Jumbo Sized Ministry' as a term went out of the vocabulary of the media, at a time a new Ministry takes office.
One of the basic premises on which the Act was passed was to curb unnecessary expenditures, thereby highlighting an important point that size does not guarantee efficiency.
Under the Act the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister, should not exceed 15 percent of the strength of the House. In the case of smaller States like Manipur, the cap on the size of Ministry was put at 12.
And so it is that Manipur has been witnessing a 12 member Council of Ministers since then but in one single stroke of 'genius' or in a show that it can 'think out of the box,' the Congress Government has gone ahead and appointed five Parliamentary Secretaries, who will enjoy the rank and status of Ministers of State.
The question is, will this increase productivity or efficiency or will it be a case of adding more adipose to a Government which has been slothful at its best and arrogant at its worst ?
Nothing perhaps explains this arrogance better than the decision of the Government to overlook the fact that the Governor himself had not okayed the move to appoint Parliament Secretaries at the first instant.
This is not a coalition Government, where the pressure of pulls and pushes from the partners may necessitate the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries.
Or has the appointment been effected keeping in mind the districts ?
A drain on the State exchequer is for sure. What however cannot be said with certainty is on the efficiency quotient.
Now that five Parliamentary Secretaries have been appointed, this in effect means that the Ministry has been expanded, without violating the 91st Amendment.
That this is the practise in other States like Nagaland and Assam, should not be trotted out as the justification. The basic question is, does Manipur really need five Parliamentary Secretaries ?
It will be interesting to see what responsibilities, something along the line of Ministerial portfolios, are entrusted to the five personalities.
Or maybe this may be asking for too much, as the Government has unfailingly managed to send out the message that governance is never on its menu.
All the more reason for the people keep a close tab on how their services are utilised or how the office of Parliamentary Secretaries are put to use.
There have been more than enough political appointments and judging by their performances, it does not offer much hope or give room for optimism.
What however cannot be taken away from the present dispensation is their expertise in sidestepping the law and doing something which is perfectly legal but does not go with the spirit of an Act passed by Parliament.
The appointment of the five Parliamentary Secretaries is the proof of the pudding here.
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