Vanished species

Where have all the deputy ministers gone? Theyve gone to textbooks,every one. Quite some time ago. Even P.V. Narasimha Rao had a few. But they havent been around for a long while,and it doesnt look as if theyll be for a long time to come. Perhaps its coalition politics thats made the deputy minister an endangered (or extinct?) species. Perhaps,with heightened awareness and ambition,nobody wants to be anybodys deputy anymore. When you can be full,why care for being half or even less?

Weve come a long way since the likes of Lakshmi N. Menon as deputy external affairs minister (1957 to 1962),Indias roving ambassador during the Chinese aggression the same period that a more illustrious Menon was Nehrus soon-to-be-chastised def-ence minister. Does anybody remember Shah Nawaz Khan of the INA,who,from April 1956,headed the inquiry committee into Subhas Chandra Boses Taipei plane crash and was made a deputy minister after his report? But then,can we instantly recall Girja Vyas as the deputy I&B minister (1991-93),given the time lapse and sundry controversies involving her since?

A deputy minister gets good apprenticeship and reduces the ministers burden in real terms. If we take the Canadian example,a deputy minister is the top bureaucrat of a government department helping his minister with his duties. This deputy minister is the functional departmental head,a la the British permanent secretary. In India,civics and public administration books still talk about the post; in fact,they are the only ones to do so. Yet,given the cutthroat competition among coalition partners for berths in a ballooning cabinet,why wonder that theres no room left for deputies? If there be first among equals,let there be more and more equals.