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What is chief minister Ashok Chavan’s rationale behind keeping four cabinet berths vacant?

The Democratic Front government has filled only 38 of the 42 berths. Even six months after the formation of the government, the state does not have an independent cabinet minister for school education which remains the most important portfolio. The charge of school education has been accorded as additional portfolio to agriculture minister Balasaheb Thorat.

The agriculture ministry is crucial and is awaiting reforms, which requires a minister who can pay attention to it. Further, the challenge before the state is to attain 4% growth in the agriculture sector, which is a formidable task. To hand over the school education to a minister whose priority is agriculture is a pointer to how the government treats primary education. Chavan, who has renewed his pledge to take the state to greater heights, should first focus on schooling. All he needs to do is to appoint a committed Congress member whose heart is in school education. We hope the state does not treat school education as secondary anymore. Unless the state gets its A, B, C correct, it cannot reach anywhere.

Put ministers’ vacations on hold
After a prolonged budget session, ministers are looking forward to a vacation abroad. But seeing the grim pictures emerging from rural Maharashtra where drought has almost swept regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha, the state administration needs to address the situation on war footing. There are about 20,000 villages reeling from severe water crisis. Chief minister Ashok Chavan and deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal should send across a strong message to the ministers to put their summer vacation on hold. The ministers who are directly accountable to the people cannot leave the job in the hands of bureaucrats. They should, instead, crack the whip on the babus to ensure that the machinery works faster. The control room at Mantralaya should become pro-active to closely monitor the situation on a daily basis.

BJP bashes up Cong over Maha Day
The spirit of opposition runs deep in the veins of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Even on the golden jubilee celebrations of Maharashtra, it did not desist from criticising the Congress. The BJP compared the celebrations in the state with those in Gujarat. BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said: “Gujarat under chief minister Narendra Modi had a grand scale celebration for the creation of his state, but chief minister Ashok Chavan seems to have completely failed in drawing a clear year-long plan.” In short, they implied that Modi is a better event manager than Chavan.

The Congress leaders are now asking, “The state BJP should answer whether their heart beats for Maharashtra or Gujarat.” A Congress member and senior cabinet minister said, “Whether it was Congress, Shiv Sena, MNS or NCP, they all were seen on the streets celebrating the event. Why did BJP not have any plan?” A section within the BJP revealed, “The local unit of the party which supports the separate statehood for Vidarbha observed 50th anniversary of Maharashtra as ‘black day’ in Nagpur.”