A lean govt needs ministries, departments to be merged; will PM Modi do it?

Can Narendra Modi fulfil the BJP's poll promise of reducing the government's size by merging departments?

Later this week, a new government under Narendra Modi will be sworn in. Speculation is rife over who all will be part of the council of ministers. That may involve the fortunes of many leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But what about the likely size of the central government? 

The BJP had released its 2019 election manifesto sometime before the polls began. One of the promises read as follows: “In order to ensure better implementation of policies and coordination, we will merge similar and complementary departments into sectoral ministries. This will allow policy makers to frame holistic and