A red-letter day for babus

For the 77 secretaries of the government of India it was a red-letter day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi infused a huge dose of confidence in them and assured he would stand by them in decisions they take. They have been given full autonomy to take decisions and can now correspond with the PM directly, and even meet him personally if necessary. The secretaries had borne the brunt of the political interference of ministers in the UPA-2 government and were, wittingly or unwittingly, caught in various scams. Following arrests and enquiries against some secretaries, others stopped taking decisions, leading to “policy paralysis” that became the hallmark of the Manmohan Singh government.

The secretaries have also been asked to give the PM a list of 10 pieces of legislation each that are archaic. It is well known that some of the laws concerning industries, urban development and some other matters date back to the 19th century.

The prospects following this interaction between the PM and the secretaries are exhilarating. Would for instance decisions connected with the ease of doing business, where India is among the lowest in the World Bank’s ranking, be announced forthwith by the secretaries? Will decisions on allotment of mines and coal blocks be taken in the next few days? Will the two-year-old demand for a technology upgradation fund for the engineering sector be granted? Time will tell.