'Main Hoon Na' but you must deliver: Modi hands power to Babus

Narendra Modi’s words were music to the some of country’s top bureaucrats. Their interaction with the Prime Minister on Wednesday evening was prolonged and candid. Some secretaries expressed “their anguish in not being able to realize their true potential” because of circumstances that prevailed in the UPA government and in turn got an expression of full faith by the incumbent Prime Minister “in their commitment and competence” to build a better future. But then there is an implicit message that the non performers and wrong doers that he would soon be asking for an account of work done. In their two-and-half-hour long meeting, the secretaries were “encouraged” by Modi “to take decisions” and were assured that he would “stand by them”, should the situation requires. [caption id=“attachment_1557409” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] Modi is aware of the burden of popular expectations that he carries on his shoulders and he knows that if he is to fulfill even a fraction of these expectations in the near future, he has to get his officials and ministers to hasten the decision making process and streamline the delivery mechanism. To make that beginning, these top ranking officials were told “to stress upon the need to identify and do away with such archaic rules and procedures”. An official statement said Modi, who added that the process of governance of his government should begin with cleaning-up of the offices, improving the workplace, which would automatically result in a better work culture and efficient services to the citizens. There may be rules and processes which have become outdated, and instead of serving the process of governance, they are leading to avoidable confusion.” Referring to Modi’s pep talk about cleaning up of offices and doing away with archaic procedures, a senior official in a lighter vein later told Firstpost of a sms /whatsapp message that recently circulated: “Modi was just cleaning the dust of UPA files… and then this happened–dust storm in Delhi”. In any case, it is not usual practice for the Prime Minister to invite bureaucrats for a candid chat directly without their presence of their respective ministers. The implicit meaning is that they will be expected to act without fear or favour of their minister in charge and not to worry about adverse implications if they are on the right path. Even in the 10 key agendas for governance that Modi had envisaged few days ago talked eloquently of restoring confidence of the bureaucracy. The secretaries are not just expected to be the heads of the bureaucratic set up of the department concerned but will now have to act like leaders of their teams. “They have to simplify and streamline the administrative rules and procedures to make them people-friendly. He emphasized the need for a team spirit and urged the Secretaries to be leaders of their teams”, the statement said. For some of the top babus, the regime change is like heralding of a new era, at least from what they heard from the Prime Minister. In contrast to the previous Manmohan regime when were faced with a dithering political leadership and were often kept guessing of various implications including criminal investigations, they are now being told that their role was that of nation builders. Manmohan Singh had met secretaries once in 2006 but then he never cared to give them the right political backing. The babus who are technologically handicapped and depend on a battery of assistants even for writing and reading a mail, will have to worry a bit. Modi emphasized the importance of technology for greater efficiency and effectiveness in administration. They were hinted that they could be individually asked for giving an account of the work being done by them. And much to the chagrin of his own ministers, Modi has told these senior officials “that he was accessible to all of them and encouraged them to approach him with their inputs and ideas”. But the ministers can’t afford to complain, at least for now.