Tuesday, 31 May 2016

ias.org:: The Gandhara Art

The Gandhara Art, justifying its name, is localized to a particular region in the north-west within a definite period and of a particular material. It is also known as the Graceo-Buddhist art. On the one hand in its origin, it is considered to be a blend of Graceo-Roman and Indian forms that for a span from the 2nd century to the 4th century AD provided the way to a definitely classical style. However, this major Roman, Palmyrene style was lost in the last phase of Graceo-Buddhist art in a fully Indian type of sculpture resembling to the work of the Gupta period.
On the other hand, Gandhara art is considered iconographically to be a local phase of Hellenistic, not Roman art. It ascended from the art of the Greek period in Afghanistan and the Punjab. It is also considered as an eastern extension of Hellenistic civilization blended with Indian elements or most probably a western extension of Indian culture.
The Hellenistic motifs observed in the Gandhara art are the Persepolitan capital, crenellation and fantastic monsters like the Sphinx and gryphon. The other major aspects of Hellenistic art comprise forms like the Atlantic, garland bearing erotes, and semi-human creatures like the centaur, triton, andhippocamp. These forms were introduced by the Romanised Eurasian artists in the service of the Kushana monarchs.

Impact of Rome

That there was an intimate cultural relationship between India and Rome and that there was Rome’s impact on the Gandhara art can be substantiated by the presence of foreign objects that include the statue of Hippocrates and Dionysius, bronze Heracles, steatite plaques or cosmic dishes with erotic scenes popularly called toilet trays, Syrian glass and Roman Metal and Stucco sculptures. It can be inferred that foreign influence was strong in the earlier phase which gradually receded. The Buddha image in Greek gradually reduced. The Buddha image in Greek drapery dominates the entire scene of the Gandhara Art.

The Gandhara Bodhisattvas

They are displayed in royal attire with the elaborate head dress and ornaments. Their style in Gandhara is supported to be a blend of techniques. The stiff swallow tail folds of the loin-cloth ordhoti are considered an adaptation of the neo-Attic style of the time of Hadrian in Rome.
The Bodhisattvas figures comprise those of Avalokitesvara, Padmapani, Manjusri and the later Maitreya who is prominent in Gandhara art several statues of this Buddhist divinity, standing, sitting in meditation and in attitudes of protection and contemplation have been found in Gandhara.
Avalokitesvara has the seated image of the Buddha in meditation. This Bodhisattva is marked by the lotus flower in his hand. Among the other Buddhist divinities, Panchaka-Kubera and his consort Hariti also figure prominently in the Gandhara art. This ogress converted to Buddhism is displayed with her children clinging to her.
Besides these, the two Brahmanical divinities, Brahman and Indra (Sakra) are also depicted in Gandhara art but not independently. Some foreign divinities such as Athena-Roma, Hippocrates, Silenus, Parro and Ardoksho, Demeter, Atlantes and the Marine deities are also portrayed. There was a tendency towards Indianisation that can be observed in Amohini Yakshas, Garuda the mythical bird, Yakshas and Yakshis, Kinnars and Gandharvas.

Role of Architecture

In the context of the architectural sphere, Gandhara art is distinguished by the use of different orders, floral designs, and animal motifs as decoration. The architects who were known as navakarmikasshowed their talent in constructing stupas and Viharas and ornamenting these with floral designs.
The famous stupa in the shape of a tower built by Kanishka near Peshawar to a height 700 feet in thirteen storeys, Hiuen-Tsang says, was the greatest architectural achievement of this period. The Corinthian columns, pilasters, and capitals are modified in Gandhara art.
The Corinthian order is presumed to dominate in Gandhara architecture that shows an absence of the Doric and Ionic types. The type of masonry that is used in the buildings at Taxila points to the time of the formation of the structures.

Gandhara art: a controversial subject

In the context of its chronology, the Gandhara art continues to be a controversial subject. The Foreign impact is clearly evident as it is apparent in the Apollo-faced figure of the Buddha,chiton, and himation in dress, in the Corinthian orders and floral designs and also in the depiction of some foreign divinities.
They might indicate to an earlier phase of strong Hellenistic impact, dating roughly from AD 140-240, from the time of the accession of Kanishka to the throne to the end of the Kushana dynasty.
The other three phases are assumed to be from AD 240-300, 300-400 and 400-460, with Sassanian impact in the second, Indian influence from Mathura in the third and Sassanian influence again in the last. This classification, however, is problematical and arbitrary. Nonetheless, it appears certain that Kanishka’s companionship with Gandhara art has to be tracked to its blooming stage rather than to its beginning or its end. Despite the Western impact, Gandhara art continued to flourish distinctly in India with the Buddha and Buddhism dominating it comprehensively.
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Forumias:: 31st May 2016

Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation

GS PAPER 2

[1] ‘Nations need a say in peace keeping’

News
  • Army Chief General Dalbir Singh said that nations contributing troops to United Nations Peace Keeping (UNPK) missions need greater say in the conduct of the missions of which they were part of.
Context
While developing countries are the major troop contributing nations but the decision making is done by the developed countries and the permanent five countries in the Security Council who hardly contribute any boots on the ground.
UN mandate
  • Article 44 of the UN Charter provides the mechanism for troop contributing nations to be part of discussions with UNSC members on peacekeeping.
  • However, this has been bypassed by a new mechanism adopted in 2003.
  • India –  the topmost contributing nation for peace keeping has often expressed concern on violation of these provisions.

[2] The right to intervene

Issue
  • Humanitarian intervention has often been used as a pretext for regime change.
Intervention on “Humanitarian grounds”
  • If the West decided that a conflict demanded intervention, then the full force of Western power would be brought to bear on those whom the West determined to be the “bad guys”. This was the gist of humanitarian interventionism.
  • Yugoslavia faced the barrage of “humanitarian intervention”, the new term of art for Western bombardment in the service of protecting civilians.
  • The idea of humanitarian intervention was reduced to a fig leaf for Western interests.
Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
  • Under Kofi Annan’s watch, the U.N. endorsed the new idea of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005.
  • This new doctrine asked that sovereign states respect the human rights of their citizens.
  • When these rights are violated, then sovereignty dissolves.
  • An outside actor endorsed by the U.N. can then come in to protect the citizens.
  • Once more, no precise definition existed for who gets to define the nature of a conflict and who gets to intervene.
  • A critic of R2P called it as “redecorated colonialism” and said that “a more accurate name for R2P would be the right to intervene”.
Use of R2P by insurgents
  • An uprising against the Libyan government in February 2011 provided the opportunity to test R2P.
  • During the Yugoslavian war, the Kosovo Liberation Army had made it clear that they used their fighters in strategic ways so as to provoke a response from the Yugoslavian army; massacres of civilians, they felt, would be the best way to bring in Western air power on their side and turn any conflict to their advantage.
  • The rebels in Libya (and later in Syria) had much the same strategic assessment.
  • If they could elicit state violence, then they might be able to assert their right to international protection.
  • But it has its own limitation, it can only work if the adversary of the rebels was an enemy of the West, as it did not worked for the Palestinians.
Critics of Humanitarian intervention
  • What appeared as a successful intervention in Libya was seen in the BRICS states — as a dangerous precedent.
  • The BRICS countries now saw that protection of civilians actually meant regime change whose aftermath was horrendous.
  • Critics of humanitarian intervention are not callous about the horrors of war and genocide. Sovereignty cannot be a shield for massacre of civilians.
  • Yet, at the same time, proponents of intervention watch disasters unfold and then wait till the last minute when a military operation becomes necessary.
  • They do not want to acknowledge the long-term reforms needed to prevent the escalation of conflict into genocidal territory.
  • The critics worry that humanitarian intervention of the Western variety ignores causes and produces terrible outcomes.
Solution
  • R2P did not address the protection of civilians from the multiple horsemen of the 21st century apocalypse — illiteracy, illness, poverty, joblessness and social toxicity.
  • These are the authors of crisis. Bombs cannot defeat them.
  • An antidote to mass atrocities might come from global financial reform, the redistribution of wealth and U.N. Security Council reform. Violence, he argued, is an outcome of grotesque inequality.

[3] Grappling with our prejudices

Issue
  • India- Africa relations
Context
  • Racism faced by African residents in India.
Racism faced by African nationals
  • The African residents feel deeply insecure in India as they negotiate racism on a daily basis.
  • There has been incidents of mobbing, beating, and stripping of African residents in various cities across India, along with wildly exaggerated accusations of criminal activity, sometimes by state authorities themselves.
India-Africa relations
  • India and various African countries encourage trade, aid and skill-based partnerships, the movement of people between these regions is on the rise, requiring urgent mechanisms to ensure the safety and security of migrant populations.
  • Not only is this a basic expectation from a member of the community of nations, but is also critical to the hopes of a South-South axis of economic and political partnership.
Enough is Enough
  • The ensuing reaction by the Heads of Mission of African countries, stating that they would boycott the African Day celebration as they were in mourning, was strong but not unwarranted.
  • The Heads of Mission approached the issue strategically by stating they could no longer encourage their citizens to come to India as they fear for their safety and security.
  • Given that trade between India and Africa has grown phenomenally in the last few years, this call assumes an economic form.
Reduced Interaction will affect India miserably
  • Both India and Africa have been working towards strengthening geopolitical and economic ties.
  • Trade between the two regions has increased from $6 billion in 2005 to $64 billion in 2013.
  • Also, India sees African citizens as prospective medical and education tourists, further bolstering the Indian economy.
  • Thus, the threats of reducing interaction and the powerful statement of ‘mourning’ seem to be designed to hit where it hurts India the most.
Living in Isolation
  • It is important to note that there is great diversity among African nationals but in the face of oppression they adopt similar tactics, and the community has attempted to move further underground.
  • They seek to minimise their interactions with Indians and the wider urban landscape by choosing social interactions that take place inside homes and at night.
  • This strategy does not allow them the space or time to understand or successfully adapt to the social climate they now find themselves in.
Sensitisation programmes
  • The stereotypes about Africans being lawless and immoral needs to be addressed in India.Bridges of communication are essential to ensure meaningful exchange and a healthier lifestyle for both the African migrants and Indian nationals.
  • Many Indians live in fear of the African population.
  • While their ideas of Africans are regressive and absurd, to say the least, it is important to create appropriate channels of communication to allow for fraternity or at least peace to emerge.
  • Merely shaming local residents and calling them racist will do nothing to change the situation on the ground.
Role of the Government
  • The strategies used by the Central and State governments and the embassies should be varied, and involve formal and informal processes that focus on providing security and encourage mutual respect.
  • The Indian states must provide clear guidelines for African migrants to register complaints.
  • In addition to this, sensitisation programmes are essential to reduce the overall atmosphere of hostility and improve the quality of life for all parties concerned.
  • These are vital in particular to improve the life of undocumented migrants who may be unable to access formal channels.
  • The embassies could provide more informal channels of support by focussing on discussions and visibility-enhancing local interventions with the help of NGOs.
  • They could also utilise the traditional strategy of creating safe spaces for children from affected neighbourhoods, from all the concerned communities, to learn together and normalise difference.
  • This mixture of legal and social processes could help create a more supportive environment for migrants and Indians who live in close proximity to each other.
Beyond tokenism
  • After the recent attacks, the Indian government has  recognised the existence of a clear problem.
  • Indian government and the police have either side-stepped or denied that the violence has stemmed from racial prejudice.
  • This is a dangerous sign and seems almost hypocritical for a polity that has taken a clear stand on instances of racial violence against Indians in other countries.
  • Government’s  actions should be  based on the values of justice, liberty and fraternity that the Indian Constitution, and by extension India, is based upon.
  • The current pledges of support require extensive work on the ground and in terms of policy to ensure that the ideas stated by the government go beyond tokenism.

[4] The MGNREGA index

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MGNREGA) aims at:
  • Enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
  • In the financial year 2015-16, Rs.42,084 crore was spent on MGNREGA.
Assessment of the implementation of the Act by the States between 2015 and 2016.
Performance indicators:
  • There are three performance indicators to rank the States:
    • Average days of employment per household
    • Percentage wages paid within the promised 15 days of enlisting to work
    • The work completion rate
  • Each indicator measures the implementation of MGNREGA in the State on an important output.
  • Collectively the three indicators capture the key aspects of MGNREGA implementation, namely, employment generation, wages paid in time, and assets created as promised.
  • MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of employment, the national average has always been below 50 days.
  • Comparing this value across States, Tripura was able to provide 95 days of employment on average.
  • Manipur and Goa were at the lower end, providing 16 and 18 days of employment, respectively.
  • MGNREGA requires that wages be paid within 15 days of closing the muster roll.
  • Last financial year, only 40 per cent of the wages were paid within the stipulated time of 15 days.
  • Manipur stood out in this case with 82 per cent of wages being paid within 15 days while
  • Meghalaya was only able to pay wages for 4 per cent of the people on time.
  • Work completion rate refers to the number of works completed compared to works started, in percentage terms.
  • Mizoram performed best in this case with a 92 per cent work completion rate.
  • Tripura, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh also had work completion rates of above 80 per cent.
  • Arunachal Pradesh was at the bottom at just 20 per cent work completion rate.
Performance score
  • The absolute values of each performance metric are scaled to a value between 0 and 10 by dividing with the highest value across States and multiplying it by 10.
  • The scores across all performance indicators to come up with the score out of 30.
Findings
  • It is interesting that two north-eastern States are at either extreme of the ranking:
  • Tripura on top with a score of 26.8 and Arunachal Pradesh at the bottom with a score of 7.1.
  • Mizoram was a close second with a score of 26.3. Chhattisgarh, Goa, Meghalaya and Punjab all ranked second from the bottom with a score of 12.7. Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand were two major States with a high ranking.
  • West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were major States with a low score of 14.
This ranking intends to give an overview to the policymakers of what works in each State and what doesn’t.
  • The reasons could vary across and within States.
  • Analysing the State-wise data, it was seen that Tripura was able to generate about 95 days of employment per household.
  • The reasons for the high employment days in Tripura need to be studied, so that they can be replicated in other similar States.
  • Similarly, a big State such as Andhra Pradesh was able to pay 80 per cent of the wages within the promised 15 days of enlisting to work, and Madhya Pradesh was able to achieve 82 per cent work completion rate.
  • The best practices in each of these high-performing States should be documented and shared with the other States, so that the performance of each State can go up.
  • For example, Andhra Pradesh is known for widespread computerisation of the processes which reduces corruption and ensures timely transfer of funds.
Conclusion:
  • The Centre seems committed to MGNREGA. About 2 per cent of the Union Budget or 0.3 per cent of the GDP is allocated to the scheme.
  • Ensuring that this amount reaches the people who opt to work, while creating durable rural assets, is important.
  • This mega scheme needs local fixes and innovations to become more efficient and effective.
  • This points out the aspects of implementation lacking in various States and gives an idea about where to look to make implementation successful.
  • The ranking also recognises States that are performing well, and can be used to allocate funds and resources in a targeted manner.

[5] Raja Mandala: Regional India, global South Asia

Issue
  • GLobalisation of the Indian sub-continent
Recent events which highlights the importance of the Indian sub-continent on the international stage
  • Presence of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the G-7 summit at Ise-Shima, Japan.
  • China has already begun to integrate India’s neighbours into its larger international and regional strategies.
  • The $ 46 billion China-Pakistan economic corridor,  “dialogue partner” status to Sri Lanka and Nepal in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are some examples.
India must come to terms with the unfolding globalisation of the Subcontinent
  • Much of the international discourse on South Asia often gets reduced to the India-Pakistan relations; this only helps mask the significance of the other nations in the region.
  • And the reference to them as “smaller nations” of the region is largely inaccurate.
  • With its focus on the Af-Pak region, however, India has tended to miss the growing strategic significance of the other nations in the neighbourhood.
Strategic importance of other nations
  • Bangladesh is today one of the fastest growing economies of the world and is open to massive investments in the infrastructure sector, and China and Japan are competing vigorously for project contracts in Bangladesh.
  • Long viewed as India’s buffers to the north, Bhutan and Nepal have now become theatres of contestation with China.
  • Sri Lanka is rediscovering its central location in the Indian Ocean, as all major powers like China, US and Japan pay unprecedented attention to Colombo.
  • Maldives, which straddles the vital sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean, has now become a highly coveted piece of maritime real estate as China turns its gaze upon the Indian Ocean.
Wake up call
  • India must begin to recognise the growing gulf between its claims of primacy in the region and the growing economic, political and military influence of China in the Subcontinent.
  • Two, the new international opportunities have allowed the ruling elites in our neighbourhood to pursue greater “strategic autonomy” from India. This means Delhi will have to work harder than ever before to retain its historic leverages in the neighbourhood.
  • Three, the economic geography of the Subcontinent was inherently in India’s favour. Partition, the inward economic orientation of socialist India, and the neglect of connectivity and commerce at and across the frontiers has seen India lost many of the inherited advantages.
  • Four, India’s “neighbourhood first” strategy is complicated by its deep involvement in the internal politics of the South Asian nations. Those who are affected , they have learned to counter it by seeking intervention of other powers.
  • Last but not the least, India must stop seeing itself as the “lone ranger” in South Asia. While it must necessarily compete with rival powers when they threaten its interests, it must also learn to collaborate with friendly powers, wherever possible, in shaping the regional environment.
GS PAPER 3

[1] Hacking scare leads to norms for smartphones

News:
  • Pakistan Intelligence Agencies were spying on Indian Security Forces by sending malwares in mobile apps such as Top Gun (Game App), mpjunkie (music App), vdjunky (video app), talking frog (entertainment App).
Issue:
  • Attempts of hacking and data theft by Pakistan and China.
  • The government has come up with a smartphone policy for officials dealing with sensitive information.
Terms and conditions:
  • To begin with, the government has put curbs on officials connecting their phones to office computers.
  • They will not be allowed to even to charge the phone battery.
  • Further, every such device will have to be approved by seniors.
Who comes under this?
  • The rules would apply to armed forces, intelligence officials and personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
Experts consulted:
  • Government official said the policy had been formulated after taking suggestions from several cyber experts.
  • Government have circulated the policy to all the government offices, especially those working in the field of intelligence gathering.

[2] Soon, postman will also deliver Ganga Jal

News:
  • Postal department might soon deliver water from the Ganga river to your doorstep.
  • Ganges which is considered holy by the Hindus.
  • Communications and IT Minister directed the Department of Posts to utilise e-commerce platform so that pure Ganga Jal from Haridwar and Rishikesh can be provided to the people.
E-governance app
  • Government is also working on a single mobile application through which citizens would be able to access over 1,000 e-governance services provided by the Centre, State governments as well as local authorities.
  • The new application UMANG — short for Unified Mobile App for New-age Governance — will be available in 12 Indian languages, besides English.
  • This application will be a game changer… a common mobile application for all government services.
Smartphones for postmen:
  • By March 2017, all postmen in urban centres will be given smartphones, while those in around 1.3 lakh rural post offices will be given handheld devices.
  • About 4,000 handheld devices have already been given.
  • It will help in financial inclusion.

[3] India climbs three notches in global competitiveness

News:
  • India’s global competitiveness rank rose to 41 from 44th a year ago.
Reason:
  • This is due to significant improvement in exchange rate stability, fiscal deficit management and efforts to tackle corruption and red tape, according to a survey by the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Centre (WCC).
  • Cost competitiveness, skilled workforce and a dynamic economy as India’s biggest plus points
  • High education levels as a positive factor.
  • Government’s competency made the economy more attractive.
India is still on 41st rank because of many reasons:
  • Higher consumer price inflation, lower public spending on education, tax revenue collection and merchandise exports proved to be the biggest drags on the country’s economic competitiveness, according to the Centre.
What are the biggest challenge for the Indian economy for 2016, according to IMD WCC ?
  • Sustaining its high growth rate, increasing the share of research and development in the economy and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax Regime.
  • Infrastructure development and disbursing public benefits digitally.
US ranked 3rd on the list and has dropped two places.
The sheer power of the U.S. economy is no longer sufficient to keep it at the top.
Rich getting richer
  • The rankings are based on analysis of over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
  • Data gathered since the first ranking was published in 1989 also lend weight to fears that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.
  • Since 1995 the world has become increasingly unequal in terms of income differences among countries, although the rate of increase is now slowing.
Conclusion:
  • To improve on the list India should focus more on consumer price inflation and public spending on education.
Note: Global Competitiveness Rank should not be confused with Global Competitiveness Index which is published by World Economic Forum

[4] Measuring Mudra’s success

Issue
  • Critical analysis of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana .
Context
  • Recently, PM modi has remarked that its government’s focus is to create a third sector—the personal sector—other than farms and factories wherein a person turns into a job provider through entrepreneurship rather than a job-seeker in the other two sectors.
Performance of Mudra
  • There are three types of loans under PMMY: Shishu (up to Rs.50,000), Kishore (from Rs.50,001 to Rs.5 lakh) and Tarun (from Rs.500,001 to Rs.10,00,000).
  • According to a estimate,  the total amount of loans disbursed under the PMMY programme crossed Rs.1.25 trillion as of March 2016.
  • Out of 32.7 million borrowers, 30.3 million borrowers were in the Shishu category.
  • Given its importance to the future evolution of the economy, it is useful to have as precise an idea as possible, ex-ante, of the economic and social outcomes that the government is seeking with such generous credit support.
Analysis of Mudra
  • If the outcomes are all about the quantum of loans disbursed, then it is no better than a loan mela and no better than an entitlement.
  • To measure the success of PMMY, one has to learn some hard truths about economic value added in MSME and in large enterprises.
  • Even within the organized sector, it is the larger units that are deploying the most capital, providing the most jobs, wages and emoluments and generating the most output.
  • There is an opportunity cost to resources allocated to generating micro and small entrepreneurship. Surely, they need to be encouraged but not to remain micro and small.
  • As firms age, they employ more people but  India is the exception.
  • A large portion of this peculiar Indian feature has to do with the fact that firms remain small in nature.
  • Perhaps, policy measures create a perverse incentive for them to remain small.
  • The aim of policy must be to make them grow out of their sizes at birth.
What should be the right criterion to measure success?
  • The government should measure the success (or failure) of its interventions by the extent of reduction in informal employment, the rise in formal employment and the extent of mobility of firms to medium and large sizes.
  • Objective criteria will help in making these decisions in an apolitical fashion.
  • For that, one of the conditions of the loans must be that entrepreneurs start to maintain books of accounts on employment, output, revenues, expenses and taxes.
Conclusion
Though small enterprises needs special attention, but the whole objective of this attention should be to watch them grow, not to let them remain small forever.
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Source:: outlook India

06 JUNE 2016NATIONALOPINION

‘President’ Modi’s Office All right-thinking citizens should cherish how the PMO is game-changing India, and that too with just watchful eyes and invisible hands

PRIMUS INTER PARES
Centre of the Centre
PHOTOGRAPH BY PTI
As one takes a hard look at the last two years of the Modi administration, while there have been some disappointments in terms of pending promises, there have been significant achievements, which would be of huge value to any economy. This piece looks at these achievements through the lens of IAS officers in the all-powerful PMO and check whether it is indeed “the worst PMO ever”, as was averred by one of India’s most influential commentators, Arun Shourie. Moreover, it tries to, as an outsider with some inside perspective, analyse the major leitmotif underlying the working of the PMO, what drives it and what its drawbacks may be.
First, unarguably, this PMO is a reflection, and has the unmistakable stamp, of India’s first presidential prime minister, Narendra Modi. The campaign he led was a remarkable success. It was a presidential campaign and as such it is no surprise that the broad complexion of the PMO is of a strong and presidential one that excels in driving the ministries to perform.
One example alone would drive home the point of the benefits of the PM’s strong, aut­hentic leadership. His global outreach is not just giving India the moral high ground abroad, which has significant benefits at the global roundtable, but is also powering economic diplomacy of a rare kind. It is hardly known that the Rs 90,000-crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail Link is happening as a result of a loan at 0.1 per cent interest over a 50-year time period from Japan, and this is because of the personal relationship that the PM fostered with the Japanese!
Second, for the first time ever, the PMO is a collection of officers and private sector staff of extraordinarily high integrity—high performers who bring to the table skills that are mutually exclusive but collectively exhaustive. Each has been handpicked for a certain skill or specialised knowledge and given the freedom to conceive and deliver. So, while the PM paints the big picture, takes quick decisions and debottlenecks obdurate ministries (and ministers), the officers build consensus and persuade the ministries to own projects and deliver. These are all firsts for any PMO ever. PMOs in the past have usually followed the bell curve when it comes to officers, but in this one, almost all of them exceed it.
Third, almost every single officer in the PMO is like electricity, invisible but indispensable, and they are on all the time. Each one has performed exceptionally, and that should be recognised and quietly appreciated.
Principal secretary to prime minister Nripendra Mishra, 72, works 24x7x365—untiringly, more than most officers half his age. His strengths are his ability to bang heads inside a room and take quick decisions on file. For example, in a matter of four meetings, he restarted the famous Enron power project by getting RGPPL, railways, power ministry and the Maharashtra government to come on one page. Today, the plant produces 500 MW. More importantly, this prevented IDBI and SBI loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from becoming NPAs!
It took the PMO just four meetings to restart the Enron power project by getting RGPPL, railways, power ministry and Maharashtra on one page.
Additional principal secretary P.K. Mishra, regarded as the PM’s alter ego, and additional secretary Bhaskar Khulbe make a kind of Kohli-Gayle partnership, where the latter is the resident Wikipedia on everything human resources. They do what Jim Collins called “Get the wrong people off the bus, get the right people on the bus”. Their unique 360-degree multi-source feedback model is exceptional and has led to ano­ther major achievement of this government: almost zero corruption in high places. Be it government or judiciary or defence or PSUs or banks or the CBI, they have ensured officials of integrity and competence occupy key decision-making positions, leading to a massive clean-up of large procurements. For the first time, officials sitting anywhere in India can aspire for key positions, without need for patronage. They have been wringing out corruption like muck from a dirty towel and this government has not got as much credit for eradicating corruption as the preceding ones got criticism for the corruption.
T.V. Somanathan, A.K. Sharma, Tarun Bajaj, Anurag Jain and Debashree Mukherjee form the brains trust of the PMO. Their exceptional intellect and attention to detail powers the PMO’s ideas, coordination among ministries and outstanding execution.
Take the top 20 initiatives of the government and how they will game-change India. UDAY has bound the states to a hard-budget constraint and the debt of power utilities brought within the overall FRBM envelope; HELP, the new hydrocarbon exploration policy, will help India reduce its dependence on imports significantly and assist domestic user industry; the India-Mauritius Treaty, renegotiated to prevent round-tripping of black money, will have a salutary impact on corruption; the razor-sharp follow-up of PM’s economic engagements abroad, leading to an unprecedented $63 billion of FDI in 2016, overtaking China; a new Global Convention Centre has come up in Pragati Maidan; and evenstalled infrastructure projects have been restarted.
Exceptional progress was made in resolving knotty issues—OROP and Kisan crop insurance programme—bes­ides the DBT and Aadhaar Act, which has already saved $3 billion in its first year of operations by targeting a very small fraction of subsidies to start with. Significant changes were made to environmental laws for affordable housing and all states were brought on board to modify building bylaws for it; a proposal to create 20 world-class universities and exempt them from the tyranny of UGC and AICTE will have huge multiplier effects on the economy.
The ongoing repeal of over 1,000 archaic laws, which were responsible for slowdown in decision-making and entailed corruption; the tough Swachh Bharat Mission; restructuring the Medical Council of India; total autonomy to scientific, space and research institutions—each one of these has been a minefield and was pushed by the PMO in the face of stiff opposition. And each one is a game-changer with huge payoffs for the economy—something that is not often widely appreciated.
All these initiatives were owned, designed and powered by individual ministries, under the guidance of a watchful, not interfering PMO. Similarly, the Group of Secretaries reports on a roadmap for India on a continual basis, while PRAGATI is used effectively to craft, coordinate, collaborate and build consensus on new policy designs, bringing on board both the states and the Union ministries.
A bunch of young, dynamic directors—some IAS, some from the private sector, and all highly competent and full of new ideas and initiatives—are the system’s lifeblood, bringing policy, consulting, finance, technology and ent­­­­repreneurship experiences to the PMO. The PM’s per­­sonal staff and the PMO’s professional staff are acc­essible to all, open to ideas and experts at reaching outside the system to get the best thought leadership, wherever that may be, and then building consensus around it.
There have been some key disappointments, no doubt: the GST Bill, due to legislative deadlock; the limited progress on the exciting Digital India vision that was painted by the PM himself, especially with respect to citizens’ services by separating the point of decision of a government service from the point of delivery by using technology or the spread of high-speed mobile internet and Bharat Net; the Ganga cleaning mission; water-grid management; agriculture and rural development management; slow improvements on World Bank’s Doing Business indicators, especially with respect to contracts (that involve courts), to name a few.
All this, however, shouldn’t take away from the successes that all ideologically neutral, right-thinking citizens should cherish as strong steps being taken towards building an economically strong India. The good news is this is being led by a government where a modern, efficient and knowledgeable PMO is Primus Inter Pares, powered by values and driven by intellect (and not the other way around!). Sadly, the darkness all around—the debilitating environment—forces one to light a candle so that the true achievements as well as the disappointments can be seen in its light. Indeed, is this the worst PMO ever?
(The author is an IAS officer. Views expressed are personal.)
Slide Show
Just four months in power, the PMO ordered the MoEF to make 60 changes in green project clearance norms. Most of it was done before Modi finished a year in office. The changes had been decided at a meeting of the principal secretary to the PM with the secretaries for petroleum and natural gas, coal, steel, power, road transport, highways and shipping. The 1986 green law gives the Centre the power to change norms simply by executive fiat.
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