Better late than never! Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has finally filled the vacant posts in his cabinet by inducting five new ministers. This should have been done much earlier as governance cannot be effective if individual ministers are burdened with too many portfolios. Even responding with first-hand knowledge to questions in the Assembly becomes difficult for them and also embarrassing sometimes. Being able to ensure last mile delivery of services is simply not possible otherwise.
What could have been the reason for this delay? Was it some kind of insecurity regarding the loyalty of the MLAs? Did the party High Command not clear the filling of the posts? Was it an inability to balance the regional and caste factors? It was probably a little bit of all these aspects. All the same, it is a fact that the failure to have the adequate number of ministers has been a reason for the shortcomings that have been seen in governance during the BJP’s present tenure.
Now that elections are due in 2027, the new inductees will have to work overtime to make the necessary impact. The ruling party will be hoping that, along with the ‘Hindutva’ push, the cabinet will be able to meet the aspirations of the many groups and communities the legislators represent. This is particularly so because there has been a resurgence, recently, of the sentiments related to domicile that resent the presence of ‘outsiders’ in the state, particularly if they acquire land or establish enterprises, especially in the hills. It was there, earlier, during the days of the statehood agitation, but the ‘national’ connect of most Uttarakhandis had prevailed in political terms. However, with the perceived increasing domination of ‘outsiders’ in the state, the cause is witnessing some revival.
All these shortcomings can be overcome if, even in the remaining time, the government’s performance improves to the required level. For a state that has been considered more peaceful, cultured and civilised, the decline in the overall law and order situation has been particularly worrying. This has been witnessed even in the hills where security of women, for instance, was always taken for granted. At the same time, the project to make Uttarakhand a ‘modern and smart’ state has to be taken up at the required pace. Continued advantage has to be taken of the support being provided by the Centre and the opportunities on offer due to rapidly advancing science and technology. Hopefully, the new ministers will hit the ground running.
