Loud Thinking June 06, 2014 at 01:44PM

Does the Prime Minister relax at all?

A times of India Report…

NEW DELHI: Don’t give theories, give practical doable 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. ET spoke to a number of ministers and officials — all of whom spoke on the condition they not be identified — to get a sense of how PM Modi, already known for keeping a punishing working schedule, is in his office. Wednesday’s morning meeting between the PM and senior ministers on the President’s address to Parliament was typical of Modi’s working style, a minister said.

“We were asked to bring specific inputs that can be incorporated in the address, not general policy suggestions,” a minister said. He also said Modi is “not in favour of theories … he wants action points”. “He has questions for all ministries… and expects good answers,” this minister said. “You can get shown up if you are not well-prepared”.

Modi wise to common tricks of babudom

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.

“We have to get back to his office fast … it’s like a board meeting of a big private sector company,” this 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. “Hopefully, once the budget is presented in July, we can have a somewhat easier existence,” said one minister. But most don’t think that’s likely.

“All cabinet ministers have been asked to reach their offices by 9 am. Meetings with senior bureaucrats and others begin at 9:30am sharp. This goes on till after the lunch break. Modi himself has meetings in the evenings as well,” a cabinet minister said. This working style is unlikely to change in a Modi sarkar, the minister said. “I walk into my office at 9am and have rarely left before 9pm. 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. And the PM, babus say, is wise to some common tricks of babudom. “He knows what tricks babus use to shirk work or not do a job. So it is not surprising that he effectively counters them,” an official said. This 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”.

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