Not an Oscar winner

Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes8217;s response to Monday8217;s brutal murder of a Noida-based CEO has provoked justifiable outrage. Fernandes, in ill-considered, off-the-cuff remarks, said that corporation policies should not 8220;push8221; workers, and that the tragic incident should serve as a 8220;warning8221;; that 8220;simmering discontents8221; were responsible, caused by 8220;disparities8221; between contractual and permanent workers, and that what was needed was 8220;compassion8221;. Outrageous indeed 8212; not to mention displaying a callous lack of sensitivity to a recently bereaved family 8212; but, in an unfortunate way, typical of aspects of this government8217;s functioning.

The UPA government has faced, since its inception, the problem of party loyalists comfortably ensconced in key ministries. They don8217;t owe their positions to their competence, or to a political base. So the performance of their ministries in crucial tasks is below-par. The labour ministry, which Fernandes heads, is in charge of overseeing and reforming India8217;s byzantine labour regulations. It is a well-understood fact that outdated approaches to labour policy 8212; the sort whose replacement by 8220;hire-and-fire8221; policies Fernandes attacked 8212; are major constraints on the growth of industry and industrial employment. Movement on this front has been deeply unsa-tisfactory under this government: with Fernandes speaking out of turn and betraying a daunting capacity for confused thinking, perhaps we now know why.

Of course, Fernandes had to retract his unwise comments, though only after they invited rebuffs from cabinet colleagues such as Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath, and caused Pranab Mukherjee to call a meeting of senior ministers to discuss the fallout. Other ministers too have led the Congress down this path many times these past four years. Lightweights of Fernandes8217;s stripe naturally believe that they are embedded in an alternate power structure, one that doesn8217;t recognise the cabinet as paramount. For them, the party8217;s high command is the source of their authority. They have no incentive to work with their colleagues or the prime minister; indeed, they might think they have good reason to undermine the PM 8212; for example, by periodically calling for Rahul Gandhi8217;s elevation. Consequently, their statements and actions will continually paralyse an effective, coordinated approach to solving India8217;s problems. This is a political failure for which the UPA is ultimately responsible, and for which voters will eventually hold it accountable. For now, the cabinet and the 8220;high command8221; have done well to nip the Fernandes controversy in the bud. But the conditions producing such controversies remains alarmingly fertile.