Manmohan wants meaningful roles for junior ministers

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked his cabinet colleagues to ensure the junior ministers reporting to them get meaningful roles to discharge their responsibilities.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked his cabinet colleagues to ensure the junior ministers reporting to them get meaningful roles to discharge their responsibilities.

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"I hope you will give your junior colleagues adequate responsibility in your ministry," the prime minister said in a letter to each cabinet minister.

"This would not only give them a sense of involvement and ownership but would also groom them for bigger roles in the future," the letter said.

Manmohan Singh also said the cabinet ministers, who have junior ministers reporting to them, have a special obligation.

The letter also called for meaningful debates and frank assessments in the manner in which the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is delivering on governance issues.

"Respect for dissent and argument is the essence of our culture," the prime minister's letter said, drawing from Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's book, entitled "The Argumentative Indian".

"I do not have have to labour the point that we must give due consideration to the views of the opposition and seek to work together for the collective wellbeing of our people," the prime minister's letter said.