Personally selected by PMO

For any politician, it is prestigious and honourable to be appointed as a cabinet minister. Any ministerial post comes with power and authority, as well as immense responsibility. But this isn’t true in the Narendra Modi government. In today’s scenario, cabinet ministers are just nominated heads of ministries. Most instructions on decisions, policies, and actions stem from South Block. After Modi’s new council of ministers took oath on May 30, 2019, most of the ministers found long queues of aspiring civil servants, who desired to be their Private Secretaries, at their residences. But even before the ministers could act, or react, came the ominous news. Media reports indicated that the Private Secretaries of senior-most ministers such as Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, and Dr. Jitender Singh were already appointed. Not by them, but by the Prime Minister’s Office. Sources contend that even the likes of Shah and Rajnath were surprised, if not shocked. Once the dust settled, it was revealed that like in most matters, Modi worked in a scientific manner in this case. He got a comprehensive survey report on the workings of private secretaries in the last five years, as well as information on the most efficient civil servants across the country. The most effective amongst them, Saket Kumar, was attached to Home Minister Amit Shah. Kundan Kumar, who served as District Magistrate of Banka District (Bihar) and was the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Excellence Award in Public Administration, was deputed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. A senior minister was so piqued that he wasn’t consulted that he did not talk to his new Private Secretary for a long time. He appointed a Joint Secretary (Coordination) to manage his work. However, now that weeks have passed, the new ministers and their new private secretaries have learnt to work in harmony. Modi haitohmumkinhai.