With a modicum of order getting restored across the nation, other than in hotspots like Mumbai, it’s time now to look forward. Train services have begun since Monday, seeing a schedule of over 200 trains in all directions, while flight operations are also resuming. Malls would open soon and so will most other closed establishments. Among the serious questions at hand, for the government, is how Parliament functioning could resume. Also how will classes resume in educational institutions with social distancing norms in place? Term elections to Rajya Sabha will take place soon, and Parliament’s Monsoon session too cannot be kept on hold for too long.
Talk is that, before the start of the Parliament session, a Union Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards. All eyes are now fixed on the serious hit that the economy has taken owing to Covid-19. Speculations are that a new finance minister will step in to replace Nirmala Sitharaman. The Covid-19 front does not give the Government much room for comfort. India’s position on the global Covid map has descended in a week’s time from the 10th to the seventh position. Infections are in the range of around two lakh. The only comfort is that so far the pandemic is mostly under control except for hotspots in about 10 cities which have defied governmental efforts to check its spread. Now Mumbai with its population shut indoors for two months, is faced with a cyclone threat as well, which could also aggravate the Covid crisis there.
Stimulus packages by themselves might not salvage the national economy from the present mess it is in. A negative growth rate will bring its own share of problems on the jobs and livelihood fronts, seriously straining every human nerve. The big promises coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi these days should be seen, in sum, as attempts at raising the confidence levels of the nation. It is time for the PM, as leader of the nation, to prove he means business when it comes to governance. The first term of the Modi government saw frequent changes in portfolios of ministers. The ailment of some senior ministers like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, not to mention Manohar Parrikar, only added to the governance handicap at the highest levels. A reshuffle of the cabinet – formed only a year ago – is well within the powers of the Prime Minister, but this cannot be an ongoing trend.
This is also time for focused attention on reviving the economy, and the Government must make use of the best talents at its disposal to take growth forward.