Ministries can't miss two-week deadline for Cabinet note inputs

The Centre on Wednesday told all secretaries across ministries and departments that the two-week time-frame for inter-ministerial consultations for preparing Cabinet notes cannot be breached.

Soon after coming to power in May last year, the government had issued a directive to top bureaucrats that discussion between ministries must be completed within two weeks. However, 15 months later, the government finds gaps in adherence to the directive.

"Preparation of notes for consideration of the Cabinet and Cabinet committees has to be completed in two weeks' time," the Cabinet Secretariat said in a memo to all secretaries on Wednesday, reiterating the philosophy of ease of doing business and quick decisions that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has talked about time and again.

The memo also states that the sponsoring ministry or department is required to indicate in the body of the note the date on which comments were sought from different ministries and departments as well as the date on which their inputs were received.

In June 2014, the Cabinet Secretariat had told secretaries in a similar memo to follow the deadline for "expeditious decision-making".

Before that, a time-frame was rarely set for inter-ministerial consultations, officials said. Often, the process took at least three months, they said. But there have been times when consultation was speeded up.

According to the memo, ministries that don't give their inputs within the time-frame must be present at the Cabinet meeting to give their views.

Many bureaucrats, however, are of the view that complex subjects need more time beyond two weeks.