PMO replaces the cabinet, restructuring complete with cabinet rank to Doval, Nripendra Misra and PK Mishra

“The office of the Prime Minister is what the holder not only decides it to be but is also able to convert it into” – Harold Wilson, Former Prime Minister of Great Britain

If Wilson’s statement underlines significance of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imbibed it completely. This exalted office has never been so powerful. The process that started in 2014 is complete now.

Modi has retained his top aides for a further period of five years – investing three of them with Cabinet rank - National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra and Additional Principal Secretary P.K. Mishra.

The Cabinet rank doesn’t give them additional power or entitlements but this was apparently required to maintain a balance in the bureaucratic hierarchy after former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was made Minister for External Affairs, a Cabinet Minister. A 1974-batch officer, Jaishankar is junior to all three — Doval is a 1968-batch retired IPS officer, and both Nripendra Misra and PK Mishra are retired IAS officers from the 1967 and 1972 batches, respectively.

Before getting a cabinet rank, their position was equivalent to a Minister of State. The government did not want a situation where Doval or Misra may have to report to a junior. Doval looks after a part of the foreign ministry as well - having significant say in the affairs of neighbouring countries. They’re all equal now. Not much will change as far as work is concerned. Getting a cabinet rank also entitles the three bureaucrats to attend all cabinet meetings.

The reason

The Prime Minister apparently trusts only a handful people. He hand-picked his close aides during his first term on two considerations. Officials whom he knew closely from Gujarat and those who had worked in the Vivekananda International Foundation, an organisation founded by Doval and run by RSS sympathisers.

Only a few outsiders were inducted into the PMO and they too were the ones recommended by his trusted lieutenants like Amit Shah.

The mistrust runs so deep that even his senior ministerial colleagues like Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh found it difficult to get the officials of their choice And often bureaucrats from their ministry were transferred out and they learnt of the development from the media or from third parties.

Singapore Model in Gujarat

Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew is said to be Modi’s inspiration. Once he asked LKY how he transformed Singapore from a port city to a wealthy global hub and Lee is believed to have replied, “Till power gets centralised, its force and impact can’t remain effective. More hands it is given to, more diluted will it become”.

But then Singapore is a small country with a population that is one-third of the NCR of Delhi and half its area. Can the Singapore model be replicated in a vast country with diverse linguistic and cultural differences?

Modi did in fact try and replicated LKY’s model in Gujarat and cheekily renamed it as ‘Gujarat model’ of governance. He empowered civil servants like K. Kailashnathan who used to call the shots in the CMO. Kailashnathan was made the chief principal secretary to the Gujarat CM after retirement.

Modi’s PMO has overriding and supervisory control over all policy proposals, schemes and programmes of different ministries. Everything has been put under a tight leash with the message that anybody trying to outsmart the arrangement would be dealt with sternly. It hands out tasks directly to secretaries in various ministries, demanding progress reports periodically. Very often the ministers are not even kept in the loop.

Whether it’s foreign policy, defence procurements, highway construction, energy security, new education policy or food grains procurement, all decisions are now being taken in the PMO and implemented by the respective ministries.

Demonetisation Prime Example

The style of functioning of Modi’s PMO is reflected in his decision to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes in November, 2016. Modi had convened a meeting of the union cabinet on the evening of November 8 but did not disclose the agenda. After the meeting no minister was about to leave and the Prime Minister went to an adjacent room for a live broadcast to the nation when he announced Demonetisation of 86% of the currency. The cabinet ministers got the information from Doordarshan and All India Radio.The decision, according to rule books, has to be taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which in turn, informs the union Finance Minister and the PMO. But, Modi turned the procedure on its head.

Then Finance Minister Arun Jaitely was asked whether he was aware of the demonetisation decision, Jaitely said curtly, “it was me who had signed the file”. The obvious inference is that he was sent the file at the last moment.

This was not the first such instance. The PMO never sought FM’s consent in appointments and transfers of even top most officials of his ministry. Even the crude oil import bill - running into several thousand Crore dollars every month - which used to be vetted and signed by the Finance Ministry, has been taken over by the PMO. Now, the entire process is handled by the PMO and one of the secretaries from PMO personally takes the file to Finance Ministry and brings it back with him after getting due signatures.

Google search PMO and hundreds of news stories flash like PMO convenes a meeting of Transport Ministry officials to check use of red beacon on official vehicles; or PMO discusses ‘Housing for All’ with developers. Whatever be the ministry, blueprints and the plans are being readied in the PMO.

Lal Bahadur Shastri is credited with starting the Prime Minister’s Secretariate (PMS). A Bihar cadre ICS officer LK Jha, was the first to head it. PMS was converted into PMO during Morarji Desai’s Janata Party rule.

Committed bureaucracy

Cabinet Ministers are giving presentations to the Prime Minister, who like a corporate CEO gives them targets which they have to fulfill. PMO has been dealing directly with secretary and joint secretary level officers in various ministries. It takes reports from them and issues necessary instructions.

Within a fortnight of his second innings as PM, the PMO has ordered the compulsory retirement of 27 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers working with the Central Board of Direct Taxes. It is believed that the Finance Ministry acted as mere post office. The decision was taken by the PMO.

This is said to be the beginning of a purge in the bureaucracy. Modi is said to be preparing similar lists of members of IAS, IPS and other elite services. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and Home Ministry, which handle IAS and IPS cadres respectively, have been asked to prepare lists of the black sheep in the two services. The actual chopping will then be done by the PMO.

Similarly, Indian Railways, PSUs, government owned banks, Transport, Irrigation, Agriculture, Panchayati Raj departments too have been asked to prepare lists of officers who have been facing charges for a long time.

While the officers are said to be facing corruption charges, loyalty to BJP, RSS and of course Modi, will be a prime considerations in taking final decisions.

Shocked bureaucrats point out that summary and forced dismissal from service amount to trial by kangaroo courts. Vested interests can always flood a ministry with various complaints and insinuations against specific officers. If there are criminal charges, they should be prosecuted and tried in fast-track courts, say even retired bureaucrats.

But while unease and apprehension grow, the all-powerful PMO seems to be in no mood for moderation. Will it turn into a bull in a china shop?