Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to have someone with him whom he can trust and who have had exposure with the previous government as well.
The Narendra Nodi-led Bhartiya Janata party government ignored all the objections by opposition parties and introduced the Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha on Friday.
An ordinance was issued on May 28 to change a clause in the TRAI Act which would have prevented principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Nipendra Mishra, who also happens to be former TRAI Chairman, from taking up the government post after retirement.
While Trinamool Congress objected to introduction of the bill, saying it violates the rules of procedures and takes away independence of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), the Congress party questioned the “glorious haste”.
Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor called it sacrifice of high-minded principles. “Our concern is a concern of principles, which is that Trai was set up to be an independent body. The chairman would not be tempted by any particular prospective future employment, and therefore conduct himself completely independently. If you change this, then you are basically making the Trai chairman a handmaiden of the government which goes against the very intent of the original bill. Therefore, we oppose this bill,” he was quoted by Times of India as saying.
It should be noted that the ruling BJP itself is against the appointment of any bureaucrat who has been a part of the core UPA team, but it is all set to make an exception for Mishra.
While one may question the legality of the case and the choice (Mishra has been a part of the UPA government), one must consider the fact that the prime minister should have all the right and liberty to choose the officials for smooth and better functioning of the government.
PM Modi needs to steer clear all the people who have been a part of the previous government which will be good for the sake of both – government and the officials. Afterall, it is better not being questioned on the loyalty to the government.
But, at the same time, he needs to have someone with him whom he can trust and who have had exposure with the previous government as well.
If we do not let PM Modi choose the man that he wants, he will be left with two choices: either run the government with a man he does not trust or spend considerable time looking for such person which would have been a waste of time and perhaps loss of many government works which would have needed deliberation.
The Trai law, as it stood before the ordinance, said: “The chairperson or any other member ceasing to hold office as such, shall (a) be ineligible for further employment under the central government or any state government, or (b) not accept any commercial employment for a period of two years from the date he ceases to hold such office.”
At a time when most of the posts are handout to the ex-bureaucrats, why not the ex-chairman of TRAI can serve the government again? That too when Mishra retired from TRAI five years ago in 2009?
Keeping this in mind, the PM must be given full authority to choose his officials. So what if it needs amending a bill!
