Fewer ministries, more funds to states on Modi's agenda

Govt sources said they would propose merger of some economic and social ministries. In the new format, there could be an energy ministry by merging power, petroleum and new and renewable energy ministries.

Updated on: May 22, 2014, 11:32:34 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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As Prime Minister, Narendra Modi may achieve what incumbent PM Manmohan Singh could not — structural reforms for effective implementation of government policies. It would mean lesser but effective ministries and outcome-based programme implementation.

The work for it has already started with the secretaries told to prepare a blue-print and present it to Modi after the swearing-in on May 26. Modi’s team also has a plan looking at sector-wise approach.

Government sources said Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth was briefed by Modi on his plan for the new government including merger of ministries to put an end to departments working at cross purposes and outcome-based government schemes.

“We have been asked to make a presentation to the Cabinet Secretary in this regard,” a secretary-level official told HT, adding that it would be done in a couple of days.

Government sources said they would propose merger of some economic and social ministries. In the new format, there could be an energy ministry by merging power, petroleum and new and renewable energy ministries with minister of state in-charge of different sectors.

A holistic social empowerment ministry may integrate social justice and empowerment, disability affairs and tribal affairs. The rural development and panchayati raj ministries would be under charge of a Cabinet minister.

Considering Modi’s focus on job creation, the departments for youth affairs, skill development — spread across labour and HRD ministries — and medium and small industries may be with one minister.

The same minister is likely to be in-charge of HRD ministry likely to be restructured in coming months with all educational aspects under one umbrella.

The NDA government is also keen to restructure the scheme implementation and monitoring mechanism. In this, the newly created Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) headed by former UN functionary Ajay Chhibber would develop templates for outcome-based implementation of schemes.

A senior BJP leader said that the new government will focus on 100 most backward districts of the country and the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) would be redefined. As of now, the BRGF has two components — state and district — and it covers 250 districts in seven states.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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