MODI’S NO NONSENSE STYLE OF FUNCTIONING.

MODI’S NO NONSENSE STYLE OF FUNCTIONING.

We were in Delhi last week to meet and greet the new ministers of Modi Sarkar.

On behalf of our Consumer Protection Service Council, myself and Ganesh Joshi extended invitations to a few Minister’s to come down to Thane where we would felicitate them.

And the reply we got surprised us. All the Minister’s, without exception thanked us for the invite but stated that they cannot accept it atleast for 3 months as the Prime Minister has set a target to the Ministers to get acclimatized with the Ministry and submit their action plan for improvement in performance in 90 days.

Quite persuasion and lead by example is Modi’s style. He is at his office at 8.30 am every morning.

No bookish theories, give practical do-able policies, come thoroughly prepared for meetings, make bullet point presentations instead of bulky ones, be ready for followup meetings, and keep your offices clean — these are the highlights of Narendra Modi's working style, as seen by ministers and senior bureaucrats.

 Modi is "not in favour of theories... he wants action points". "He has questions for all ministries... and expects good answers," "You can get shown up if you are not well-prepared", said a Minister of State with Independent charge.

Modi is very alert.

Another minister said, "If you are making a presentation, make sure you have a smart bullet point summary-...don't offer a big, bulky document... he dislikes vague generalities as much as he does red tape and procedural hurdles."

"He insists on follow-up meetings when points are not clear or when his questions have not been answered fully," another minister said.

"Our working schedule is particularly hard now because of the budget," a minister said. Working hours are particularly long now for ministers and bureaucrats in finance, industry and commerce, and infrastructure ministries.

 "All cabinet ministers have been asked to reach their offices by 9 am. Meetings with senior bureaucrats and others begin at 9:30 am sharp. CCTVs have been installed in all ministries.

This working style is unlikely to change in a Modi sarkar, a Cabinet minister said."I walk into my office at 9 am and have rarely left before 9 pm.

Since I am new to the ministry I have to put in extra effort to understand the issues and finer details and so I have to spend another four hours at home," another minister said.

"Officers cannot leave till the ministers are in office. Following in the footsteps of Modi, ministers have started calling babus late evening and even early morning to discuss issues," a senior official said.

Cleanliness is another Modi trait that GoI is slowly learning it has to adopt. Last week, Modi did the rounds of South Block, where the PMO is located.

The result - a message for cleaner offices. "He found one of the offices filled with smoke and politely told the officers that there is a 'no smoking' board outside. In another room he found several dirty tea cups littering the desks. He just mentioned them and walked out but that was enough for us to get the message," a bureaucrat said.

An official said during another tour of South Block, the PM, after visiting ground floor offices, took the elevator straight to the fourth floor - "word hadn't reached the fourth floor that the PM was doing the rounds, the PM knew he will catch some officials by surprise".