Welfare ministries see a bureaucratic revolving door

New Delhi: This week's bureaucratic reshuffles have unveiled a stark contrast in the stability of different ministries, with social and welfare departments experiencing the highest turnover. Over the past five years, a multitude of social sectors, including health, labour, minority affairs, education, mines, water resources, and the department of north eastern region, have witnessed three to five different secretaries, many of whom have not completed even two years in the same role.

Such frequent leadership changes, often driven by officers being moved to other high-level portfolios or reaching retirement age, are notably absent in these welfare ministries, raising questions about the reasons for this volatility. For instance, the education ministry, currently under scrutiny for the NEET-UG paper leak and CBSE OSM controversies, has seen its third secretary in five years, with Deepti Gaur Mukherjee assuming the role this week following Vineet Joshi's move to Panchayati Raj after 1.7 years in the education sector.

Similarly, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has seen its sixth secretary in five years, all of them serving between 10 and 19 months in the position. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, too, has been piloted by four different secretaries since 2021, while the equally critical Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has also experienced four secretaries, with all preceding incumbents holding tenure for no more than 1.5 years.

In contrast, strategic and security portfolios like home, defence, and finance have shown greater continuity, with secretaries like Ajay Bhalla serving a full five-year term and their successors often receiving tenure extensions.