BackNDA’s governance model weighed down by expectations
Modi government's attempt for a coordinated approach between various ministries has been a halfway house
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New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government hit the ground running with its mantra of “minimum government and maximum governance", by streamlining the government, reconstituting cabinet committees, and even asking departments to allow self-attestation of documents.
The grammar of governance was evident when the government scrapped system of appointing groups of ministers and empowered groups of ministers, removing yet another layer of bureaucracy.
Instead, Modi empowered ministers of state with independent charge such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, among others, to handle the key economic portfolios that require urgent attention to ensure a quick economic revival.
“There are two tracks in the country to move forward—good governance and development. We can progress only on these tracks," Modi said in his Independence Day speech on 15 August, after consolidating powers under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
However, as part of the exercise of speeding up the decision-making process, the government’s attempt for a coordinated approach between various ministries has been a halfway house, an exception being the ministries of power, coal and new and renewable energy, being handled by Piyush Goyal.
The government also announced a single-window clearance system for capital-intensive steel, coal and power projects, a new urban renewal mission, a smoother labour compliance reporting system and articulated its commitment to a national employment policy. It has also made people a part of government exercises by crowdsourcing of ideas through the mygov.in website.
Analysts have welcomed the government’s strategy. UBS Global Equity Research in a 1 August report wrote, “Government has done some very good things to begin with, such as bringing power/coal under one minister and streamlining the processes at MoEF (ministry of environment and forests)," and “renewed vigour in bureaucracy and increased accountability would lead to efficient decision-making".
The political capital for the steps undertaken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government stems from the party’s current 279 seats and NDA’s 332 representatives in the Lok Sabha.
However, the NDA government also drew flak for issuing a circular barring civil servants who had served on the personal staff of ministers of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime from serving its ministers.
“There is too much concentration of power happening in the hands of a single man. Bureaucrats are trained to be neutral; it’s the political executive which tries to leverage them and vice-versa.... Also, there is also a lot of hype that has been created and fed. Are achchhe din really here?" questioned a former secretary in the government of India, requesting anonymity.
A serving secretary from Indian Administrative Services (IAS) said, “There has always been a will in the bureaucracy to deliver. It’s not for the first time that we are working."
“Achchhe din aanewale hain", literally translated to “good days are coming", was BJP’s election slogan, which Modi used extensively in his election campaign that focused on governance, development and growth.
The government is also working towards leveraging modern technology for efficient delivery and plans to spend as much as ₹ 1.13 trillion in the next three-five years to provide Internet connections to all citizens through an initiative called Digital India. The plan was first announced by Modi in his speech on Independence Day for the electronic delivery of government services to all citizens and businesses.
Besides the diktat to avoid appointing relatives of ministers as their personal staff and ordering all government employees to disclose their assets, the government also amended service conduct rules for bureaucrats, mandating them to be politically neutral.
However, the NDA’s teflon coating of good governance came under a cloud last week, following reports of a rift between senior ministers and younger leaders. A case in point was the alleged and unspecified misconduct by Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh, general secretary of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit.
Interestingly, PMO came out strongly in defence of the home minister and his son and claimed these reports were against national interest, a few minutes after Rajnath Singh said he had discussed the reports with Modi and BJP president Amit Shah and offered to quit politics if any of the allegations against his son were proved.
One of the reasons for the poor showing of the Congress-led UPA in the April-May national polls was its image as a government mired in corruption.
During its second five-year stint in office between 2009 and 2014, some UPA leaders and bureaucrats were jailed or accused of corruption in a slew of alleged scams.
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