Homoeopathic dose

It was said of the last Congress Prime Minister that he could never make up his mind, and that he had arrived at a philosophical justification: if you let a problem be, it will eventually solve itself or some other urgent problem will take its place. The current Congress Prime Minister is not cast in the same mould, but he does seem to believe in administering change in homoeopathic doses. His latest Cabinet changes""reshuffle is too grand a term""prove this once more. Three ministers were sworn in on Tuesday but one was not quite new because he had been there before; and two have been moved around, one because India needed a new foreign minister, and if the defence minister were to be the man for the job, the country needed a new defence minister as well.

The positive point recognised instantly by all is that the new defence minister, A K Antony, is an honest man. Between him and the Prime Minister, India can expect some respite from the sleaze associated with defence deals. At the same time, Mr Antony is not the most decisive or effective of people, and it is far from clear whether he will be able to give any new direction to defence thinking or the troubled issue of defence purchases.

Moving from defence to external affairs (which any ambitious politician would prefer to avoid as a job that offers little opportunity for gathering IOUs) has not been to Pranab Mukherjee's liking. He had made it clear that he wanted to be left undisturbed, and the government as a whole may be the loser since Mr Mukherjee's travels will come in the way of his chairing all the ministerial committees that he has been entrusted with. Mr Mukherjee also takes charge of the ministry when the breakthrough initiatives with the US and Pakistan are running aground. Since relations with the sole superpower and the important neighbours are usually of direct concern to the Prime Minister, it must be hoped that the two will work closely in an area that now presents new challenges. Perhaps it is the knowledge of the Prime Minister's direct role in such key issues that made Mr Mukherjee reluctant to move from the freer perch of defence.

Looking at the council of ministers in its totality, what is evident is that the head of a coalition government is severely cramped when it comes to room for manoeuvre. It is manifest to all that Sharad Pawar has been able to make little difference to Indian agriculture, but he cannot be moved. Other allies like Ram Vilas Paswan have to be tolerated, despite their mis-steps. But what passes understanding is why, even within the Congress party, someone like Arjun Singh, who has little other than nuisance value, cannot be dropped from the Cabinet and education given to someone more in tune with the needs of an economy with 40 per cent illiteracy that nevertheless manages to grow at a rate of more than 8 per cent.