The critical attribute for a minister

     We always feel assured if a person with high qualifications is chosen as a cabinet minister. But we have to take a pause and discuss if degrees make a manager, leader, and statesman. President Ronald Reagan was an actor with a bachelor's degree and went on to become a highly successful president  from the US point of view.
     In democracies, the leadership comes from the elected representatives of people. People with advanced degrees shy away from politics. It is common to find graduates in arts and commerce gravitating to politics. Countries like India, with large levels of illiteracy and rural populations, village leaders and urban trade union leaders are better known to the electorate. Under such a scenario, when parliamentarians elect their leaders, chances are high that people with low to no educational qualifications will become ministers.
     If a minister knows his limited capabilities, he is likely to perform well. It is very similar to the chief executive of a business. A person who knows everything about his business will be a good fit for a start-up or a small business. But when the business grows to be big or large, the owner is unlikely to know every thing and do everything. There will be several specialists heading various functional areas and giving expert advice to the chief executive. The chief succeeds in running the business if he utilizes the talents he has available to him.
     Hence, the most important attribute for any minister is common sense. His first task consists of assembling a team with the most appropriate talents to advise him and to carry out tasks delegated to them. As a minister receives advice, he becomes more knowledgeable. Using his smarts and native wisdom, he can perform well. But that situation should not make him think that he is now all-knowing and is an expert in the subject matter. Subject matter expertise comes with decades of learning and practice.
     There was apparently criticism about the selection of Ms. Smriti Irani as Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD). For India, HRD is a very critical ministry. With a population of over a billion people and a high proportion of them being illiterate, great leadership is expected. Many higher education institutions, universities, scientific laboratories, and tens of thousands of colleges come under the purview of this department. There will be demands to establish institutions of world standards and to get Nobel prizes. On the other end of the spectrum, millions of young people will be looking for skills to get decent jobs. Perhaps, most people would have applauded if an experienced vice-chancellor of a university with a double PhD from Harvard was selected instead of an actress.
     A successful actress knows that the theme for the movie is not her creation. The script, the lyrics, the music, the screen play, and directing are all created or performed by others. A producer selects the team of specialists, markets with investors, and distributors, and makes sure that the team produces results that is a box office hit, a gem with critics, and a favorite of the fans. The critical feature is the orchestration of the team work and getting every player to contribute their best so that they are all proud of the final masterpiece.
     The question one should ask is if the minister would be able to transfer such skills to her new charge and serve the millions of people who look for better skills to let India harvest the democratic dividend. Just as movie producer looks for a theme, assembles a talented team, and works within the budget, will the honorable minister put together a great HRD team for India?
     When a position of such high responsibility is taken, all past qualifications and accomplishments have to be left at the door. It is a new challenge and a new learning experience. It is not about the person and personal glory. It is all about results that a billion people are eagerly anticipating. The lady has already demonstrated one quality on the first day. When there were critical comments about her lack of educational qualifications, she followed her script - silence.
    Although this write-up is about one minister and ministry, the general criteria apply to all ministers and members of parliament. They were elected by their constituents. Their first job is to work for the people back home. They are a group of several hundred who were given the responsibility of governance of the whole nation, their responsibility is for fairness towards and the economic and social wellbeing of over 1.2 billion people.
     May common sense be their virtue!