Officials gear up to welcome new Council of Ministers

Concept notes, action plans being prepared at Ministries

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Politicians may come and go, but the Centre’s bureaucratic machine remains to smooth the transition for the incoming Council of Ministers. Summaries, concept notes and 100-day action plans are being prepared by officials in a number of Ministries this week.

After the publication of exit polls on Sunday that projected another win for the NDA, officials said they speeded up the preparation of plans. “We need to dig out the BJP’s manifesto so we can plan for the next few months,” said a senior official from the Rural Development Ministry.

While briefing notes are routinely prepared for new Ministers and Secretaries, officials in several Ministries confirmed that they had been asked to prepare a 100-day action plan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, assuming the NDA government remains in power.

A Labour Ministry official said briefing notes and a presentation were being prepared for the Minister on schemes, the progress of initiatives, pending decisions and the plan ahead. “For instance, the enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan scheme [pension scheme for unorganised workers] was started in February. So we will inform the Minister about the number of people enrolled, State-wise data, etc.,” the official said.

Several departments of the Agriculture Ministry have completed their 100-day action plans. These include promises made in the BJP’s election manifesto, such as extending the income support scheme PM-KISAN to all land-owning farmers, rather than just those owning two hectares of land or less.

Apart from formal presentations on the responsibilities of a Ministry, a newly inducted Minister would also ideally be briefed by his or her predecessor.

It is also the season of farewells at Ministries. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi wrote thank-you notes for her staff at the Ministry commending them for their work in the past five years before she left for campaigning in Sultanpur in the last week of March. Some of her immediate staff have also planned a farewell lunch on Wednesday, it is learnt.