Opinion Discard a few

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has,several times during the year just past,identified crony capitalism as a severe problem constraining India’s economy. The political climate created by various revelations of corruption and cronyism in the past year has been dangerous,not least for the UPA. Yet these columns have argued that there is also an opportunity for its leadership to create political space for itself,to address the sources of crony capitalism. It would be gratifying if one could read into Wednesday’s reshuffle some signs that the UPA’s leadership has taken the first steps in doing this. Yet,the cosmetic tinkering on display falls far short of what could have been done had the government genuinely taken the crisis of accountability and governance seriously.

It is possible that the UPA’s leadership has at least figured out that the perception that it is too indolent to act on crony capitalism is beginning to hurt it politically. Hence,the argument could be made that infrastructure ministries,in particular,have been given new heads,allowing for the possibility of a clean slate. But moving a bookend from one shelf to another won’t change the content of the books. What was needed was a clear sense of purpose,the rededication,almost,of this government. That does not seem an alternative on offer today. Yes,there were hopeful signs: the ministries of highways,civil aviation and petroleum,for example,have notably under-performed,and their ministers have at one time or another been either paralysed or spoken for those interests that they are supposed to regulate. So they have been shunted out; excellent. But is there genuine accountability when you then give them another ministry where they can be lacklustre? Nor do their replacements inspire much hope.

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Take another example: the sports ministry,under M.S. Gill,has presided over one disaster after another. Gill is now no longer sports minister. But what should we think of the UPA’s dedication to getting the implementation of its big social-sector schemes right when we are told that he,as a reward for his failure,is being made minister for statistics and programme implementation? Simply put,rearranging faces does not make for accountability. Nor does it constitute a fresh start. The UPA might think that good optics are enough. They are not. And the truth is that a mere reshuffle is not even good enough optics. The crisis the UPA faces requires not just reshuffling,but discards.