In what provides an insight to the changes which could be witnessed in the style of governance under Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi during the days to come, Secretaries of major ministries related to the infrastructure as well as energy sectors would be making presentations on future vision of their departments directly before him next week.
The USP of the meeting, according to highly placed sources, would be that Secretaries have been asked to present their individual views on what could be done to improve their respective sectors. The ministries, whose Secretaries, are likely to be report to the Prime Minister designate, include Petroleum, Coal, Power, Road & Transport, and Shipping, among others.
Sources privy to the development told The Pioneer that though meetings and presentations on policy matters are a routine affair at the top level, what would make next week’s meeting with the Prime Minister designate a unique affair is the fact that Modi will be meeting the Secretaries individually where they will make power-point presentations before him.
Moreover, the focus of the presentations will not only be the past achievements of their respective departments and the future plans, but more significantly what in their personal opinion could be the aspects which need to be strengthened in order to enhance the performance of their departments, sources informed. Various bottleneck areas which have affected the performance of the respective sectors are also likely to be discussed and views of Secretaries on addressing these could also be sought by the Prime Minister designate, sources added.
The meeting is likely to take place any time next week once Modi takes oath as Prime Minister on May 26. Top sources confirmed to this correspondent that power point presentations from various ministries are being submitted with the Cabinet Secretariat in preparation for the impending interaction, though a confirmation on the meeting’s date is awaited.
Such kind of an interaction, they added, is a rarity at the top decision making levels, and could come as a sharp contrast to the outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s style of functioning, where on most of the occasions, Secretaries during the meetings held in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) were addressed by top South Block officials. Instances of the Prime Minister personally addressing top bureaucrats were few and far between, official sources claimed.
Observers said that the Prime Minister designate meeting Secretaries individually soon after assuming office, is likely to send out a positive message and could instill a sense of pro activeness within the bureaucracy. As the UPA regime was constantly branded with sobriquets like ‘policy paralysis’, a general sense within the officialdom is that a more direct approach in governance could prove to be a big morale booster in the functioning of the Government.