Choosing a representative of a particular region or community as a Minister is a way of telling people that they are not ignored or overlooked

Most socio-political developments are often read into more than understood in a country with a free press and a functioning democracy. Cabinet reshuffles rarely fall in this category, but that is an entirely different matter now, considering that the media has no understanding of how Prime Minister Narendra Modi works. For the past few weeks, there had been speculation in the media surrounding the first cabinet reshuffle since 2019. It attracted much media attention but news analysts seemed to miss the woods for the trees once again.

When it comes to Modi, much of the action is predicated on a fundamental belief -- India first. One could say that it is 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' that propels the government's decisions. With 30 new faces, the Union cabinet has a representation of several groups of our society, including OBCs and women. It is pan-India both in terms of people and regions. The cabinet now includes 11 women -- twice the number from the first Modi term -- as well as the highest number of women ministers. The polity has been speaking for the 'minorities' since times immemorial; if one were to go by actions, then it is Modi who has done the most by inducting five ministers from the minorities apart from 12 ministers from the SC communities, 27 from the OBCs and eight from the ST communities.

Most political commentators looked at the reshuffle from the prism of appeasement and social engineering. For many, the names and choices represented the BJP's calculations for the upcoming assembly elections in seven states and the general elections in 2024. Be that as it may, there is another side to the argument: choosing a representative of a particular region or community is also a way of telling people that they are not ignored, overlooked, or forgotten. What illustrates this best is the inclusion of five faces from the north-east, the highest ever representation of the region in any Union cabinet ever.

Since assuming office in 2014, the Modi government has focused policy attention on various aspects of the North-East, including economy, infrastructure, employment, industry, and culture. The extent of the 'tyranny of distance', the euphemism in Delhi's journalistic circles for not giving the region its due attention, can be gauged from the limited railway and road network till 2014.

Modi visited the region over 30 times and pushed projects that transformed the socio-economic canvas of the region. These include the laying of 900 km broad gauge tracks, completing the 4.94-km Bogibeel Bridge -- India's longest rail and road bridge that had been in the making since 2002 -- initiating work on 3,800 km of national highways and classifying bamboo as grass instead of a tree to give a fillip to the regional economy, among others.

The government also successfully concluded the dialogue on the six-decade-old Naga political issue and signed the historic peace accord between the government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 2015.

Many salient features of the cabinet reshuffle got overshadowed by the media turning the spotlight on the big-ticket news such as the inclusion of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia as the Civil Aviation Minister or Home Minister Amit Shah getting the charge of the new Ministry of Cooperation. There were questions about the dropping of 12 ministers, including Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

However, the big message of the entire exercise that got overlooked is the government's re-commitment to ensuring the last-mile delivery of its programmes. For instance, the grassroots knowledge of former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal would help him in developing the waterways on the Brahmaputra as the new Minister for Ports. Similarly, the decision to club health and pharma - under the new Minister for Health Mansukh Mandaviya -- would create better cooperation between the two during the pandemic times. The extent of planning that has gone into deciding the cabinet berths can also be gauged from the inclusion of Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, who has ample experience in fighting malnutrition and providing clean drinking water, as the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

In the end, no good ever comes out of just having good intentions, and like John Locke, known as the "Father of Liberalism", believed, the actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.  No matter how noble the intentions, they can never overshadow the deeds. The months to come would see the new Union cabinet members, representing the aspirations of 1.3 billion Indians, play their role in transforming India.

(The writer is a columnist and writes on socio-political and gender issues. The views expressed are personal.)