May
7,
2003
Press
Statement
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Marxist)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
On
Limiting
The
Size
Of
Ministries
The
Vajpayee
government
has
announced
that
it
will
bring
legislation
to
limit
the
size
of
the
council
of
ministers
at
the
Centre
and
in
the
states.
The
CPI(M)
is
for
limiting
the
size
of
the
ministries
given
the
trend
of
enormously
large
ministries
being
constituted.
However,
the
proposal
made
by
the
BJP-led
government
is
self-serving
and
does
not
conform
to
the
spirit
of
the
principle
of
limiting
the
size
of
the
ministry.
According
to
the
Union
Cabinet
proposal,
there
will
be
a
limit
to
the
size
of
the
ministry
of
10
per
cent
of
the
legislature
or
parliament.
This
would
mean,
for
the
Union
ministry,
a
limit
of
10
per
cent
of
the
total
members
in
both
the
houses
of
parliament
--
the
lower
house
and
the
upper
house.
By
this
criteria,
the
Union
council
of
ministers
can
go
up
to
79
members.
The
Vajpayee
government
has
currently
78
members,
which
is
the
biggest
ever
in
the
history
of
independent
India.
The
Union
Cabinet
has
bypassed
the
recommendation
made
by
the
Commission
it
set-up
for
the
review
of
the
working
of
the
Constitution,
which
has
recommended
that
the
size
of
the
cabinet
be
limited
to
10
per
cent
of
the
popular
house,
i.e.,
the
lower
house.
Earlier
recommendations
have
also
been
for
limiting
the
size
based
on
10
per
cent
of
the
directly
elected
lower
house.
By
this
principle,
the
Union
ministry
cannot
exceed
54
members.
Further,
in
the
states,
there
is
no
necessity
whatsoever
to
include
the
legislative
council
alongwith
the
lower
house
for
setting
the
size
of
the
ministry.
By
the
government
proposal,
some
states
will
have
bigger
cabinets
just
because
they
have
an
upper
house.
Exemption
to
the
10
per
cent
limit
to
some
extent
may
be
given
to
states
with
small
assemblies
as
in
the
north-eastern
region.
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
CPI(M)
is
of
the
firm
opinion
that
the
limitation
in
the
size
of
ministries
should
be
based
on
10
per
cent
of
the
lower
house
which
is
directly
elected.