With the reshuffle over, day two was about why a certain minister was moved out and another brought in. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who’s lost the high-profile telecom portfolio to Manoj Sinha, was one such.
Sources in the government and the sector point to six big reasons that could have prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to move Prasad out, while retaining him for information technology & electronics, additionally giving him heavyweight law & justice.
Caution against any controversy topped the list of reasons. Telecom had under the earlier government's rule been in the headlines for scams, court cases and loss to the exchequer due to mis-steps by policy makers. This government wants to stay clear of any allegations or even a hint of corruption. It could have decided against keeping any one minister with a portfolio such as telecom for long.
The second that people in the know cite is some recent policies, such as penalising operators for call drops, which went against the incumbents. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) came up with a call drop penalty regulation which sought to levy a penalty of Rs 1 a dropped call, not exceeding three calls a day, and Prasad backed it. Subsequently, the Supreme Court snubbed the regulator on the matter, leaving Prasad on a weak footing. Read more.
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