New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is planning to come out with a booklet on the major reforms brought in by different ministries since 2014, when it first came to power, their need and their impact on the masses, ThePrint has learnt.
The project is a brainchild of the Prime Minister’s Office and is apparently aimed at projecting the government’s critical reforms as part of its “good governance”.
According to sources in the government, as and when approved, the government’s official communication arm, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and the Bureau of Outreach Communication (BOC), will compile the key reforms sent across by 69 ministries and government departments, and print the booklet after finalising its format.
It is not yet known how many copies are to be printed and their estimated cost. It is yet to be decided when the printing of the booklet will commence.
Sources said the plans are to distribute the booklet among the masses in a bid to publicise the major reforms of the government.
A senior ministry official told ThePrint that initially the plan was to make a booklet containing 180 pages, but it is being discussed if it could be very concise, like just about five pages.
“There are plans to carry the reforms sector-wise in an interesting, reader-friendly format. In all likelihood, the PIB will select the critical reforms and will get them vetted by the ministries and the PMO before they are sent to the BOC for publication,” the official said.
Sources said the title for the booklet is yet to be decided, but it will hinge around the governance and the “bold reforms” ushered in by the Modi government in the last six years.
A second senior official told ThePrint that initially there were plans that every ministry would come up with a booklet of its own enumerating the various reforms undertaken by them and their impact on the masses.
“Even the I&B Ministry had plans to come out with four booklets. But, for now, the plan is that the BOC will come out with a consolidated booklet compiling the major reforms of all ministries and departments,” the official said.
ThePrint reached Satyendra Prakash, director general, BOC, through calls and text messages for a comment on the matter, but there was no response till the publication of this report. ThePrint also reached I&B Ministry spokesperson through email, but there was no response.
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Reforms to be highlighted
Government officials told ThePrint the key reforms highlighted by different ministries for the project could include the National Education Policy (NEP) by the Ministry of Education, scrapping of Article 370 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff by the Ministry of Defence and the farm laws brought in by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, the Udan mission brought in by the Civil Aviation Ministry, and labour codes by the Labour Ministry also feature among the multiple reforms.
Officials told ThePrint that secretaries of all the ministries were told to prepare a long input on the reform identified by them covering few aspects, such as how long a specific reform had been under discussion, the reasons why it was not being finalised, the exact details of the reform and who benefits from it and how it has impacted people’s lives and submit it by 24 December to the cabinet secretary and the I&B ministry.
The input should also include photographs, tweets and beneficiary testimonials. The inputs will then be sorted and compiled before finalising what would go into the booklet.
Earlier booklets
The government has periodically brought out booklets to highlight its achievements and initiatives.
For instance, earlier this month, the BOC came out with a Booklet ‘Putting Farmers First’, highlighting the reforms introduced by the government in the agriculture sector through the new farm laws and steps taken by the government in the last six years for the “welfare of farmers”.
In September last year, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had released a booklet, ‘Jan Connect’, containing a compendium of key decisions of the government in the first 100 days of its second term.
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Excellent initiative. It is high time that the Government communicates its achievements to the wider community and counters the Cassandras, naysayers and the doom-gloom merchants (for eg. The Print and its ilk).