Narendra Modi has begun consultations with key aides to give his Prime Minister’s Office a central role in decision-making on strategic issues, including national security, and direct oversight of critical infrastructure projects and administrative reforms, two sources familiar with the discussions have told The Hindu .
Mr. Modi’s PMO could emerge more powerful than any since Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s years in office from 1984 to 1989, the last time when the institution enjoyed unquestioned primacy. His plans, the sources said, centre on creating an architecture which would allow the PMO to fast-track decisions through Delhi’s notorious bureaucracy — further slowed down after a series of corruption scandals which have led to the prosecution of bureaucrats.
Mr. Modi wishes for a framework that would allow the PMO to push directly the progress of critical infrastructure, administrative reform and capacity development.
