Is PM's authority being eroded?

ashishs

Ashish Sharma | February 25, 2010



Mamata Banerjee's appropriation of the annual budget of Indian Railways for electoral gains raises a larger question. Should we blame just the railways minister if the budget is skewed in favour of her home state West Bengal? As captain of the team, isn't the prime minister ultimately responsible for the railways minister's performance as well?

According to a report in The Indian Express, the railways ministry completely ignored the Prime Minister's Office's advice on fiscal prudence while formulating the budget.

That, however, is not the only such example. Mint newspaper reported that Commonwealth Games organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi recently fired Sanjeev Mittal, a financial expert appointed by the prime minister. The reason, as per the report, was that Mittal, an Indian Defence Accounts Service official, had refused to clear certain financial transactions that he believed were irregular.

The question, therefore, arises: is the authority of the prime minister being eroded?

Comments

 

Other News

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP

Labour law in India: A decade of transition

The story of labour law in India is not just about laws and codes, but also about how the nation has continued to negotiate the position of the workforce within its economic framework. The implementation of the Labour Codes across the country in November 2025 marks a definitive endpoint in the process. Yet


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter