Is it fear or motivation? How Modi gets ministers, babus to work

“Mantri toh ab santri ho gaye hain,” remarked an official aide of a senior minister. It’s not a new idiom about ministers turning vigil-keepers, but in Narendra Modi’s regime, it has acquired some real meaning in the working of a minister. “It’s true that almost all the ministers are putting in extra hours at work in office. We have all started to work very hard since the time the Council of Ministers was sworn in. But we are not grudging that. My minister also does not grudge it. After all we all have a point to prove that the government can be made functional and governance is deliverable. Modi_ji_ himself is a workaholic and expects the members of his ministerial team to match his pace. In this situation one either has to perform or face the axe in due course," the aide continued. [caption id=“attachment_1548321” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] Is it that fear of getting the axe that is making the new ministers work harder? Or have they been sufficiently motivated to work harder? A minister said, “The fear factor could be there, or at least is being jocularly referred to. But beyond the fear of getting dropped from this privileged position, there is this new-found motivation to work, do justice to the superb mandate that we got, to do something better for the people. More so if you look at number of Cabinet meetings that we had since the time we took over and how each Cabinet meeting proceeded, you will realise that apart from discussing issues on agenda, in each of these meetings Modiji unveiled what he expects from us, both in personal conduct and reality and how the idea of good governance could be turned into reality. That also served as some kind of orientation course for all of us… That I think is making the difference.” Another senior party leader said the fact that Modi is a strong leader and is in his office in South Block around 9 am and is usually there till late at night, or even if he is at his official RCR residence, he is working. This is itself a clear signal to his Cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats. He explained that since the time the 7 Race Course Road came into existence during Rajiv Gandhi’s time, over the years elaborate arrangements were made for a residence-cum-office. There has been a tendency among successive prime ministers to work mostly from there than from the South Block office. “Modi has reversed that. He has not just restored the glory of Prime Minister’s Office but the corridors of South Block office have that additional aura that his physical presence there generates. Whether he is working from home while sitting on a couch or is sitting on a chair behind that designated desk in office makes a whole lot difference.” His point was that if the PM is in his office, then ministers will have to follow suit, abandoning the time worn practice of beginning the day in more leisurely fashion. “Being a minister is no doubt a huge privilege, a position with huge official and societal perks but everyone has to realise that it’s also a responsibility of a serious nature,” he said. It is still early to make an assessment on how functional the Modi cabinet has actually become but one thing is sure, the right noises are being made. There is an energetic buzz in the corridors of power. Will that last long, or will that get institutionalised is something that has to be seen. Modi’s meeting with secretaries and other senior bureaucrats without presence of their ministerial bosses and putting a line in the official communiqué, that “the Prime Minister said that he was accessible to all officers and encouraged them to approach him with their inputs and ideas” has also impacted the psyche of the ministers. The fact that PM is in touch with the secretary of each ministry or department has made ministers realise that they will have to be constantly on an update mode, lest they are caught napping. It is not only the ministers and the bureaucrats but Modi’s half-hour pep talk to his party MPs has also been broadly on the same lines. “What he said was right. Though he has not said anything that we had not heard before but this coming from Modi, that too in his parliamentary party meeting after scoring a victory that the Sangh Parivar and the BJP had only wished in dreams, is very significant. It registered instantly to everyone out there.” The implicit meaning is that the victory celebrations should not be prolonged. Now that we have won, get to the work and think ahead, for the party or for the constituency. A section of MPs, particularly the unsung ones are particularly happy with Modi’s jibe against the tendency of some MPs to talk to the media, to make themselves more visible and register their presence in minds of the bosses. By making a dignified non-lobbyist and eight-time MP Sumitra Mahajan the Speaker, Modi has scored another brownie point. During Vajpayee government, the BJP had to give Speaker’s position first to TDP and then to Shiv Sena – Sumitra Mahajan is BJP’s first Speaker. If the Congress was trying to disown Shashi Tharoor’s newfound facy for Modi, then Pappu Yadav of Lalu Yadav’s RJD surprised everyone by comparing Modi to Gandhi and Nehru while he was speaking to felicitate Sumitra Mahajan’s elevation to the Speaker’s post. PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti also pinned too many hopes on Modi to resolve issues relating to J&K. “No PM had displayed his capacity to command so effectively, so soon. The government is there only for about a fortnight and Modi has already made his mark as an administrator and the leader, even internationally,” said an MP requesting anonymity for Modi has only a day ago told them not to indulge in sycophancy and keep away from media.