PM breaks the ice with secretaries, bowls them over

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, true to his style, opened a direct channel of communication with the country's top bureaucrats on Thursday. In a meeting of almost three hours and well into late evening, Modi is learnt to have clearly indicated to the secretaries (77 of them were present) that he's a hands-on prime minister.

The secretaries Business Standard spoke to said it was an upbeat experience for them. They could speak to the PM on any matter whenever there was a problem - on phone, email or through face-to-face interaction - Modi assured them, calling each by his name. Modi also recounted his first day in the Prime Minister's Office, saying he walked the corridors, greeting officials and catching a glimpse into their files.

Industry Secretary Amitabh Kant summed up the mood in a tweet immediately after the meeting: "First time in my career, free, frank & fearless interaction with the PM of the country. Highly motivating! Great flow of ideas!" Many others, perhaps, felt the same way after a pep-talk from the PM, but they preferred to talk off the record. "Very positive and result-oriented", is how another secretary described his meeting with the PM, where no other minister was present.

While telling the civil servants to go all out on decision making without 'fear or favour', Modi asked "when was the last time you had a meeting like this", only to get in reply a steely silence that was broken with some faint voices saying "eight years ago".

The PM, who took office only a week ago after a thundering victory, not only asked the officials about what was wrong in governance but sought views on how he should run the government. Though these are early days and officials are aware of Modi's workaholic ways, his direct talking won many of them over. Without mentioning anything about the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Modi was able to get secretaries to talk about the so-called policy paralysis that halted decision making during the second term of the UPA rule.

Then came a direct question from the PM - had the 2009 targets been achieved? That was the year when UPA had returned to power for a second term. By this time, the bureaucrats had opened up to the new PM and spoke rather easily about how files were getting tossed around and how officials shied away from making decisions due to fears around a witch-hunt (referring to scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Central Bureau of Investigation).

Modi's advice: Be firm in taking decisions, be critical of even the PM, if necessary, discourage coteries, make India relevant. The ultimate goal is to deliver results. According to the PM, ideas should be converted into institutions because institutions last longer than individuals, an official statement from his office said. He was also emphatic about use of technology for efficient administration, reiterating the party's slogan of maximum governance, minimum government.

Manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and exports were highlighted as areas of importance. Each secretary got seven to eight minutes to speak on various issues, including on what they thought were outdated laws. The PM hinted these might be reviewed. But nobody dared ask about a likely bureaucratic reshuffle. As if Modi had read their minds, he told them nobody would be transferred for the sake of it.

Bureaucrats, including Home Secretary Anil Goswami, Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, attended the meeting. Soon, Modi will hold separate meetings with groups of secretaries, where they would be asked to make presentations.