Unlike UPA government , PMO under Narendra Modi to call shots on policy issues - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it crystal clear on his first day in office that the Prime Minister's Office will call the shots on policy issues and Cabinet ministers will not have a free run in the new government — a reversal of the system in place over the past decade when the PMO's influence is perceived to have dwindled, leading to policy paralysis as ministries often worked at cross-purposes.

A press statement, which detailed the allocation of portfolios on Tuesday morning, an hour after Modi assumed charge at Raisina Hill's South Block, explicitly states that the PM is in charge of "all important policy issues" and "all other portfolios not allocated to any minister." By contrast, in the earlier administration, the PM's Office had spelt out that ministers could take decisions on most matters.

The PMO under Manmohan Singh had said that ministers only needed to keep the PM in the loop on those policy issues where they "feel" the PM needs to be informed or should take a final decision. Modi has left no room for any ambiguity that might arise from letting the feelings of ministers dictate what is important enough for the PM to know. "The new PM has struck a masterstroke by explicitly stating he is in charge of all important policy issues. Ministers won't be able to decide what's important enough for the PM, like they did in the UPA, and the PMO's word on which policy issue is important would be final," said a senior government official.

That Modi wants to keep a tight leash on his government's decisions is also apparent in the portfolios vested with BJP's Rajya Sabha leader Arun Jaitley - defence, finance and corporate affairs. A final call on most critical policy decisions is likely to be taken by the PM or the FM, or by both, said the senior government official cited earlier who was commenting on the signals to the system from the portfolio allocation process. Importantly, the prime minister has also inducted two senior officials, who have worked with him when he was in Gujarat, as joint secretaries in the PMO. The two new joint secretaries are Bharat Lal — a 1988 batch Indian Forest Service officer who was the resident commissioner of Gujarat in the Capital — and AK Sharma, whose last job was secretary to the Gujarat CM.

Modi had earlier appointed Nripendra Misra, former Trai chief and an advocate of economic reforms, as the principal secretary in the PMO. Sharma had worked in the Gujarat chief minister's office since Modi came to power in 2001 and had played a key role in developing large infrastructure projects in the state as well as conceiving and implementing the western state's high-profile biennial event to attract investments - Vibrant Gujarat.

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