The first impression after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his cabinet was that Smriti Irani lost out while Prakash Javadekar gained a cabinet rank. In reality both did not fare very well in their respective ministries. Irani’s handling of the human resources and development ministry has been far from satisfactory. She started out with a false claim of holding a Yale degree, kicked up a row over the Delhi University course format and mishandled the Hyderabad Central University and JNU issues. She had to go because the dust kicked up by her antics made it difficult for Modi’s to push through his agenda on education. Javadekar, on the other hand, went about implementing the PMO plan, but at the cost of the environment. He came under severe criticism from greens and activists for compromising the environment in the name of development. Being environment minister is a tough job because it puts the minister in direct confrontation with several ministries. Javadekar was contemplating a revision of the CRZ regulations which would have spelt doom for coastal communities. The message that Modi sent to the nation by transferring Javadekar is that while development is high on the agenda, so is the environment.
