In the last Lok Sabha, only three Cabinet ministers were born after 1947, but many are hoping to see a difference this time around. If Rahul Gandhi joins the Cabinet, the average age may come down drastically. Two potential ministers of the next Cabinet, Congress` Sachin Pilot and NCP`s Praful Patel, joined CNN-IBN to discuss the issue.
CNN-IBN: Sachin Pilot, last time, you had hoped to become a minister but instead Congress chose someone over 75 years of age from Rajasthan. Will we see a younger Cabinet this time?
Sachin Pilot: Well, the time for young people to take Indian politics in their hand has definitely arrived and under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, younger MPs are being directed towards the mainstream of politics. But I think this whole question of Cabinet formation should be best left to the man who has to do the job - Dr Manmohan Singh. It is his discretion and prerogative to choose Cabinet ministers. In the 14th Lok Sabha, the UPA government had a balanced Cabinet - a few young faces, a few experienced ones.
CNN-IBN: But only three Cabinet ministers were born after 1947 and the junior ministers were brought in only at the fag end of the five-year-term
Sachin Pilot: There were a lot of coalition partners then and I suspect there was less elbow room, but we are getting a bit carried away with this whole date of birth issue. It`s not the age but the person`s approach to their job which matters - are you creative, imaginative, do you have energy, fresh and new ideas. That is the job of the government as a collective entity and it is never one or two ministers who run the government. It is a whole council of ministers. I think the Congress can take the largest credit of ushering in younger people into public life and that is the ascent of this election. I think in the times to come, you will see greater participation of youth in Indian politics.
CNN-IBN: Would the lack of younger leadership in the Cabinet be a rejection of this mandate? We have seen the young voter come out like never before, and we have also seen that 40 per cent of this Parliament is filled with MPs under the age of 50. Doesn`t this mean that a large part of the Cabinet should be young?
Praful Patel: Well I wouldn`t look at it as a rejection of the mandate, but certainly there is a point to have more and more young people and I agree with what Sachin says in terms of imagination, in terms of delivery systems, in terms of being creative and being visionary. That is very important for you can have young people and have no delivery at all. I think governance is slightly different than being just a representative of the people and I am sure most young people do have very good qualities in terms of being good managers and looking after the interest of the nation. This is the job of the number one person in the Cabinet and that is the Prime Minister.
Source:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/talking-point-will-india-have-a-young-cabinet/92913-3
CNN-IBN: Sachin Pilot, last time, you had hoped to become a minister but instead Congress chose someone over 75 years of age from Rajasthan. Will we see a younger Cabinet this time?
Sachin Pilot: Well, the time for young people to take Indian politics in their hand has definitely arrived and under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, younger MPs are being directed towards the mainstream of politics. But I think this whole question of Cabinet formation should be best left to the man who has to do the job - Dr Manmohan Singh. It is his discretion and prerogative to choose Cabinet ministers. In the 14th Lok Sabha, the UPA government had a balanced Cabinet - a few young faces, a few experienced ones.
CNN-IBN: But only three Cabinet ministers were born after 1947 and the junior ministers were brought in only at the fag end of the five-year-term
Sachin Pilot: There were a lot of coalition partners then and I suspect there was less elbow room, but we are getting a bit carried away with this whole date of birth issue. It`s not the age but the person`s approach to their job which matters - are you creative, imaginative, do you have energy, fresh and new ideas. That is the job of the government as a collective entity and it is never one or two ministers who run the government. It is a whole council of ministers. I think the Congress can take the largest credit of ushering in younger people into public life and that is the ascent of this election. I think in the times to come, you will see greater participation of youth in Indian politics.
CNN-IBN: Would the lack of younger leadership in the Cabinet be a rejection of this mandate? We have seen the young voter come out like never before, and we have also seen that 40 per cent of this Parliament is filled with MPs under the age of 50. Doesn`t this mean that a large part of the Cabinet should be young?
Praful Patel: Well I wouldn`t look at it as a rejection of the mandate, but certainly there is a point to have more and more young people and I agree with what Sachin says in terms of imagination, in terms of delivery systems, in terms of being creative and being visionary. That is very important for you can have young people and have no delivery at all. I think governance is slightly different than being just a representative of the people and I am sure most young people do have very good qualities in terms of being good managers and looking after the interest of the nation. This is the job of the number one person in the Cabinet and that is the Prime Minister.
Source:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/talking-point-will-india-have-a-young-cabinet/92913-3
