Editorial
Cabinet 'reshuffle'
Job cut out for time left
The reshuffling of the cabinet by swapping of portfolios and inducting two new faces is a welcome move as it is indicative of acting under public pressure, though belatedly.
Clearly, this is a softening of an inexplicably stiff stance that the prime minister had earlier taken towards having anything to do with the inept and corrupt ministers.
The erstwhile communications minister Syed Abul Hossain who became the subject of the media and public criticism for the deplorable condition of the roads and highways and for allegations of corruption in the Padma Bridge project retains his position in the cabinet but with another portfolio. To some extent, sensitivity has also been shown to public criticisms against unbridled price hike by transferring Mohammad Faruk Khan from commerce to civil aviation and tourism ministry.
The induction of two new ministers in the cabinet is of special significance to us. Veteran parliamentarian Suranjit Sengupta has been given the charge of the newly created railway ministry, while Obaidul Kader has been made the new Communications minister.
The railways should have been made into a separate ministry early on because of its centrality to the communications sector. That this has been done now is judicious and commendable.
The question is how far the experienced parliamentarian will be able to deliver in the remaining two years in his hand and rescue such a vital sector of communications from its present state of neglect and backwardness.
As for the communications minister, the huge responsibility of bringing the Padma Bridge project back on track as well as improving the condition of the nation's road network lies with him.
Given the time left to the incumbents, they will have to be serious if they are to make a difference and the prime minister needs to give them a free hand to deliver on their portfolios. The public is watching.
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