Agenda for the nation?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy in January, interacting with all the Secretaries to the Government of India. Most of the Secretaries were hard at work preparing presentations and were burning the midnight oil. The first round of meetings was held on January 12. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as also Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya, besides all Secretaries, were present. After the interaction, the Prime Minister formed eight groups of Secretaries to run India. The subjects on which the groups have been set up include ‘good governance–challenges and opportunities’, ‘employment generation strategies’, ‘farmer-centric initiatives in agriculture and allied sectors’, ‘education and health–universal access and quality’, ‘innovative budgeting and effective implementation’, ‘accelerated growth with inclusion and equity’, ‘Swachh Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation’ and ‘energy efficiency and conservation’. It has also been decided that one Secretary will act as a rapporteur in each group and moderate the group meetings. It is learnt that Modi was happy with the various presentations and asked questions and made suggestions. Now it has to be seen how the ideas and presentations from the board room are injected into the system so that India can be transformed.