A cabinet reshuffle is never an easy task for the Chief Minister. No minister wants to give up his/her berth because it is a source of power. While cabinet reshuffles are necessary to ensure efficiency, in Meghalaya’s coalition politics it’s also about musical chairs. A case in point is the BJP with only two MLAs with one having held a cabinet berth for 2.5 years while the other one is waiting in the wings. Normally when a chief minister chooses his cabinet colleagues the first criterion should be efficiency, experience and ability to deliver. But such considerations cannot figure in a coalition government where capability and competence are not qualities a CM can look for. He has to strike a balance such that the coalition is not threatened even though now the NPP has an absolute majority in the state today. The CM must tread cautiously especially with the BJP MLAs since the party is ruling the roost at the Centre, albeit in a coalition ministry but it is not lost on anyone as to who pulls the strings.
In the real sense a cabinet reshuffle is not just a change of face but also a change in the manner in which the departments are run. While some ministers have a firm grip on their departments others are floundering or are running the departments to serve a limited agenda of their own especially in terms of staff recruitments in those departments. So far, the most harangued department is the Education Department. This Department requires a complete overhaul and demands that a minister heading Education – a department riddled with controversies – should have been a senior, experienced person who could guide the educational vision of Meghalaya with fortitude and commitment. Unfortunately, in Meghalaya no minister wants to head the Education Department because of its past predicaments which have continued even today.
In a situation where Education in the state is in the doldrums, the present Education Minister alone cannot be blamed for all the ills and the baggage of the past. What is needed is strict rationalising of the superfluous schools that have come up and continue to function only in name without teachers or students. This requires a harsh decision which the MDA-2 government must take in order to salvage education from the rut it is in today. Political concessions cannot be made at the cost of education. In fact, the communities where such superfluous schools operate should demand that they be shut down. How can any Government allow ghost schools to continue to suck up all the funds meant for schools that are really educating students. Hence in this cabinet reshuffle if there is one imperative for the Government it is to overhaul the Education Department. However other departments too can do with a change of face and performance. These include the Urban Affairs, PWD and PHE Departments. The poor quality of our roads are testimony of the failure of the PWD and the fact that people in Shillong city suffer from drinking water shortage should tell us that the PHED is a failure. A cabinet reshuffle is therefore crucial.
