10 groups of secretaries work on govt roadmap. Bureaucracy overhaul, simultaneous polls among goals

Unlike in 2014 & 2019, when NDA government constituted SGOS after coming to power, this time task for 10 SGOS was set months ahead of end of Modi's second term.

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: From overhauling the bureaucracy to opening new foreign missions, launching a flagship highway programme to formulating common electoral roll for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls, ten groups comprising secretaries of central ministries and departments are busy, fine tuning the new government’s road map for short-, mid- and long-term.

Each of the Sectoral Groups of Secretaries (SGOS), reconstituted in February by the cabinet secretariat, were tasked with preparing five-year action plans on a specific theme in March, government sources told ThePrint.

With the five-year plans in mind, the ministries and departments concerned have now formalised the action plans for the new government during its first 100 days in office. The results of the Lok Sabha polls are due 4 June.

Following several rounds of presentations before Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba over the last two months, the 100-day and five-year plans devised by the ministries and departments have now been made final with timelines, and the ministries/departments have started preparatory work for implementing the plans, the sources said.

The implementation of the 100-day plan is likely to start as early as 1 July, said a senior government official. Before that, the 10 SGOS will make a final presentation in front of the prime minister and the council of ministers after they assume office 4 June.

Each of the 10 SGOS has a coordinating secretary and another five to eight secretaries from the ministries and departments concerned as the group members. The ten groups looked at separate sectors such as governance, security and foreign affairs, rural and agriculture, resources, welfare, social, infrastructure, commerce and industry, finance, and economy and technology. An external affairs ministry representative is part of many of the SGOS.

The 10 SGOS

The infrastructure SGOS convener is Union Road Transport and Highways and Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Anurag Jain. The ministries of road, shipping and ports, telecom, railways, aviation, and housing and urban affairs are part of this SGOS. Besides secretaries of the ministries, Union Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth is also a part of it.

Operationalising more than 700 km of the under-construction high-speed corridors, getting the cabinet nod for a flagship highway expansion programme, and a mega port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra, and getting the Delhi Master Plan 2041 approved are part of the 100-day plan finalised by this SGOS, a third government source said. The five-year plans of this group include completing the work on the Vadhavan port.

The resources SGOS convener is Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain. Ministries part of the group include petroleum, coal, mines, power, environment and renewable energy. Among the 100-day plans of this SGOS is launching a critical minerals mission and and inaugurating a national landslide forecasting centre, ThePrint has learned.

The security and foreign affairs SGOS convener is Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra. This group includes the secretaries of home affairs and defence and defence production. The SGOS has firmed up a slew of ambitious 100-day and five-year plans, including holding a Global South Centre of Excellence Summit, opening over a dozen missions abroad, and reducing prison occupancy across jails in India.

The governance SGOS convener is Department of Personnel and Training Secretary S. Radha Mohan. Secretaries of the departments of administrative reforms, pension and pensioners’ welfare, law, justice, and legislative affairs are its members.

The 100-day and five-year plans of this group include the launch of a ‘Karmayogi talent bank’, which will rate the competencies of civil servants before promotion, review the foundation courses of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, and review the conduct rules for All India Civil Services. The third government source said that coming up with a ‘common’ electoral roll for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections is among the other five-year plans.

Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan leads the finance and economy SGOS. Secretaries of the departments of financial services, economic affairs, expenditure, and revenue and economic advisers are the members. The group has firmed up plans aimed at making India a world class financial sector.

The welfare SGOS convener is Social Justice and Empowerment Secretary Saurabh Garg. Members include secretaries of the departments of social justice and empowerment, empowerment of persons with disabilities, tribal affairs, minority affairs, and women and child development. Streamlining the scholarships for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes, counselling for children from disadvantaged groups, digital education intervention, ‘special’ intervention for a more inclusive society, and achieving a healthy life and dignified ageing are among the 100-day and five-year action plans of the group.

The commerce and industry SGOS convener is Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. The ministries and departments in this group are commerce and industry, steel, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), pharmaceuticals, labour, and tourism, among others.

Higher Education Secretary K. Sanjay Murthy heads the ‘social’ SGOS. Ministries and departments, which are part of this SGOS, includes health, school education, higher education, skill development, culture, youth affairs, and sports ministries/departments. Getting a cabinet nod for the Higher Education Commission of India and National Digital University bills and implementing them is among the 100-day and five-year action plans.

The rural and agriculture SGOS convener is Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Secretary Manoj Ahuja. It’s one of the larger groups with secretaries from 14 ministries and departments such as agriculture, cooperation, rural development, land resources, panchayati raj, animal husbandry, fisheries, water resources, drinking water and sanitation, food, and public distribution, consumer affairs, and fertilisers as its members.

The ‘technology’ SGOS convener is Department of Science and Technology Secretary Abhay Karandikar. The electronics and information technology ministries are among those who are part of this group.

Institutionalised after 2014

The SGOS concept was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government first came to power in 2014. Two years after forming the government, he constituted the SGOS to focus attention on priority areas. Since then, the SGOS has been institutionalised.

In 2019, less than a month after the Modi government came to power for a second time, the SGOS was reconstituted and tasked with devising out-of-the-box ideas to transform governance within a fixed deadline.

However, unlike in 2014 and 2019, when the government constituted the SGOS after coming to power, this time, PM Modi, confident of coming back to power a third time, set the task for the 10 SGOS months before his second term ended.

“The 100-day and five-year plans will be tweaked, depending on the feedback given by the PM and council of ministers before implementing them,” said a second source, adding that the Union budget to be presented in June will have many of the plans embedded in it.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)