Oath ceremony sans secretaries

The 15th Prime Minister of India, NarendraDamodardasModi, took his oath in style. Most of the guests were invitees of his choice. The complete list of guests was drawn up by the BJP top brass and Modi’s advisers. Even the senior most officers, except the staff of the President of India, were not aware of who had been invited. The President of India’s office and Modi’s officials interacted regularly for the function. As it appears now, it was more or less a political function, rather than a government function. The senior officials are shocked that for the first time, as the Prime Minister of India and his cabinet took oath, senior officials were not visible. It is now an open secret that the secretaries of the Government of India were not invited to the oath-taking ceremony. The procedure is that the office of the President sends out the invitations for functions hosted by the President’s office. It is a set procedure that, at the swearing-in ceremonies, the top functionaries like the secretaries and additional secretaries are invited, and if space is still available then joint secretaries are also called. This year, all the secretaries had no option but to be glued to the television sets in their offices to watch the oath-taking ceremony along with their colleagues.