The Prime Minister's Daily Roadmap For Governing India

How should a typical day of the Prime Minister be like? 

(This is not a suggestion but a personal reflection).

• 9-11 am: Reading two Indian general and business papers each, one international and business paper. Surfing the net and TV news channels.
• 11 am onwards:
• 15 minute videoconferencing tete-a-tete each with ruling coalition party chief and leader of the opposition.
• 10 minute videoconferencing briefing each with cabinet secretary and ministers and secretaries of defence, home, external affairs and economy.
• 5 minute videoconferencing briefings each with chiefs of army, airforce, navy and intelligence.
• The above is necessary to ensure communication lines remain open with key constituencies on a daily basis and the psychological state of each can be assessed on a daily basis.

The following slides should be available for the PM on a large colour screen projector updated daily or every two days:

• Movement position of all Indian naval warships in Indian and international waters
• Army/Military troop and armament deployment on borders and inside country
• Position of fighter combat aircraft squadrons, fixed, mobile and nuclear missiles in forward and domestic air bases
• State of the economy update on 15 key parameters and indicators: finance, economy, manufacturing, commerce, services, agriculture
• Countrywide 550 districts update on following parameters in a grid: law and order, employment, education, district income, health, economy
• Weekly updates on key infrastructure projects
• The PM's office should be hi-tech and he should be familiar with the use of satellite phone, Apple iPod, Blackberry etc. There should be at least two TVs, two computers in his room and daily summary updates from the wire agencies to give him knowledge of the present situation.

Handling files:
The PM can handle 15 issues every day. This is how.

• The basic 30-40 page report should be prepared by the under secretary and additional secretary duly signed. An executive summary should be prepared by the joint secretary in 3-4 page duly signed. A one page summary should be prepared for the PM with problem/objective, possible solutions/recommendations and result—positive and negative by the ministry secretary duly signed for the PM’s final decision.
• The PM should not spend more than two hours in meetings. Each meeting should be of 10 minute duration and all concerned should be told to prepare thoroughly in advance before meeting so as not to waste the PM’s time. This way he can meet 12 delegations in a day. 
• The PM should spend one hour daily in solitude to think and strategise. Another one hour should be spent every day in dealing with other ministries. The PM should make public appearances only for events of national importance or exceptional causes, common man’s problems.

ECONOMY: GDP figure 20 years from now: Is setting a GDP target of $20 trillion in 2025 from the current $690 billion realistic? Perhaps that’s too ambitious. The USA has reached a GDP figure of US$11 trillion growing steadily at a annual GDP rate of 4-5 per cent for the last 200 years. Perhaps if India could set a target for US$ 6-8 trillion by 2025 and maintain a steady and consistent GDP growth of 6-8 percent that itself would be a great achievement. All it requires is constant learning and elevation, constant skill and ability improvement in the masses and the necessary reforms in the fields of economy, administration, labour and politics. What strategies are necessary so that the govt can achieve a Indian GDP of $6-8 trillion in 20 years' time and a per capita annual income of $3500-$4500 in 20 years' time?

Revamping the Planning Commission: In fast changing times, a monolith like the Planning Commission should reinvent itself to stay relevant where planning reflects boldness, confidence and agility. Rather than working as one superstructure perhaps it would be better to have it split into 40-50 units each manned by 10-15 experts with various coordinators under a chief commander, with each unit working like a independent think tank in its area to ensure innovation and creativity contributing to a clear common goal. Inputs should be taken from experts and stakeholders in the public for various areas on a regular basis.

Rural economy: The future growth sector is rural India. Fifty per cent of India’s growth will come from rural India. In fact 50 percent of the nations money, time, attention, discussions, effort, approach should be directed in this area. Fifty percent of the nations newspaper/periodicals and TV channels and software programmes should be rural-centric. The rural ministry should be a mega ministry having at least 8 junior ministers (for areas like utilities, health, employment, agriculture, housing, water etc) supervised by 4 deputy ministers, 2 ministers of state and under the overall command of one cabinet minister. There could perhaps be 25 chapters of the rural ministry spread throughout India to ensure speedy implementation of projects.

Education: The other mega ministry has to be that of education. India must spend 6-8 per cent of its GDP on education for the next 20-30 years if it has to maintain its current growth rate. Educated Indians will automatically create or find work and will boost the economy. With a strong economy you can then have a decent outlay for defence. In the education ministry there should be a junior minister each for primary, secondary, higher secondary, college, higher education, R&D, professional colleges, and vocational colleges.

They should be supervised by 4 deputy ministers, who in turn should be supervised by 2 ministers of state under the overall command of the cabinet minister. Again there should be 25 chapters of the education ministry spread across the country to ensure speedy implementation of the projects. The government must use all legitimate methods to ensure fast and quick spread of education. Private sector, NGOs, newspapers, TV channels must all jump on the bandwagon and educate illiterate Indians with a vengeance never seen in its 5,000 year history. This has to be done with the ferocity of a crusader.

Handling internal conflicts: It will surprise you but 30 percent of India’s landmass is in the grip of heavily armed internal conflicts and insurgencies. Does this indicate that the interests of a large section of people have been ignored and they have not been given a say in governance? Does it indicate that there are social and economic inequalities in large parts of the country? Does it indicate a collapse in administration and governance? Is crushing rebellion by brute force and strength the solution? Perhaps the solution lies in identifying the leaders of such movements and rehabilitating them in their family life, personal life and work life. Given the serious nature of this problem, perhaps a separate sub-ministry within the home ministry should be created manned by experts, administrators and politicians who have the knowledge or experience in dealing with this situation. The elite and select strategic community in Delhi has repeatedly expressed alarm at this development. This could be the first step in regional revolutions and plausible disconnection. 

What are the strategies to counter this? How should India be perceived? Your perception depends on what you actually are. But what you actually are can be changed to what you want to be like. But for that you should clearly know what you want to be like. What should be the character, personality and psychological profile of the Indian state. Should it be perceived as weak and soft or strong and decisive? Should it be seen as divisive, scattered or as united and cohesive? Should its thinking be muddled and confused or clear and firm? Should it be living by the day, bogged down by the past with no idea of where it is heading or should it be purposefully engaged in the present, draw inspiration and lessons from its past and should be moving decisively with confidence for a better future? Should it be timid and diffident or bold and confident? Should it allow itself to be kicked around and pushed around by local street fighters or should it stand its ground and inspire respect and awe? If yes then what are the strategies to do this?

Governing class should be carefully selected and well looked after: During the ancient times, say 2000-2500 years ago during the fledgling city states of Greece and Rome when economies of these city states did not exceed a few hundred thousand dollars it was okay to keep the political class alive giving them a loaf of bread, a piece of cloth and a shed for shelter but in modern economies which exceed several hundred billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars the state must ensure that the political class is well paid and well maintained so as to cut down on corruption with strict expectations on accountability, productivity and deliverables. Despite all the hurdles, hundreds of scores of people have stuck to the job and have maintained their integrity and honesty and have worked to solve common problems. The quality of political leadership at the national, state, district, municipal levels to a large extent will determine how development takes place. The public’s confidence can be won only when the political and administrative system not only function efficiently and honestly but are also perceived to have a good image.

Playing as a team: One key to achieving long term goals is to ensure that the various organs of the legislature and the key political groupings and the different arms of the executive play football as a team so that India can find a place for itself in the top 8 contenders in the world. You cannot have one extraordinary leader at the top and expect the country to progress. You have to develop a cadre of leadership at various levels and ensure everyone plays as a well knit team to achieve a well defined objective. Key policy decisions must have the approval of the parliament and their implementation must be ensured irrespective of the government in power.