SHUN ABCD (Avoid Bypass Confuse Delay) CULTURE AND ADOPT ROAD (Responsibility Ownership Accountability Discip[line) SYSTEM : Modi to Ministers/Secretaries

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday promised a string of changes, including making the decision-making nimble and inclusive, to push his Make in India initiative, after 23 top bureaucrats suggested several initiatives and a stable policy regime to boost the anaemic manufacturing sector.Modi told a gathering comprising his cabinet colleagues, a battery of secretaries and industry captains, who spent close to 11 hours working out the country's manufacturing agenda, that NDA is now ready to change rules and laws to speed up processes.
“Government is generally trapped in `ABCD' culture from top to bottom.... A means Avoid, B-Bypass, CConfuse, D-Delay. Our effort is to move from this culture to `ROAD' where R stands for Responsibility, O-Ownership, A-Accountability, D-Discipline. We are committed to moving towards this roadmap,“ he said. Modi sought to make the traditional policy formulation model in government more open by saying that the public-private partnership model can be applied to the decisionmaking process itself.
The message of change had, however, gone down earlier with ministries and departments reworking their working style to deal with the government's new strategy. For instance, the revenue department assured the gathering that it had issued clear-cut guidelines that are consistent and predictable and will not result in tax officers going on fishing expeditions.The revenue secretary is learnt to have said that his department will work in line with the national objective of promoting manufacturing and follow a nonadversarial approach. Similarly, the defence ministry promised to change its approach in favour of the “private sector“ driving defence manufacturing, giving up its pro-public sector bias. It also indicated its willingness to open more sectors for private participation. The newly-set up skill development ministry too suggested that training should be imparted from school itself, a model that is followed in countries such as South Korea and China. The PM is learnt to have suggested that the ministry consult the sectors before finalizing the skill module.
The commerce ministry suggested that the import duty on gold be pared from 10% to 2%, a move that will not just help the gems and jewellery sector but also consumers in terms of lower cost of the yellow metal.
But it wasn't just the Centre, even states spoke of areas where they had made progress, with Maharashtra reading out a list of steps to improve the Ease of Doing Business ratings. The state chief secretary said the steps would help the government meet the goal of India breaking into the top 50 rankings in terms of Ease of Doing Business compared to its 142nd place.
The Chattisgarh chief secretary suggested that there should only be random checks, adding that there should be “no line instead of online“.
Modi said one of his main goals was to break down silos in government so that synergies and cooperation replaced turf wars and inertia that decrease transparency and increase scope for discretion and unaccountable behaviour.
The PM expressed satisfaction at the brainstorming session, saying the suggestions exemplified his vision of “minimum government, maximum governance“ and pitched for free movement of labour, machinery, natural resources and capital across the country.





Dec 30 2014 : The Times of India (Hyderabad) PMO steps in to push stalled projects Saurabh Sinha & Sidhartha New Delhi: TNN In its latest attempt to spur investment and get stalled projects moving, the Prime                                                                     Minister's Office (PMO) has asked key infrastructure ministries to put together a list of                                                                   long pending projects that have failed to take off due to state government-related                                                                             hurdles. Sources said Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra                                                                   Modi, has written to several secretaries, asking them to send a list by next Monday .“It                                                                   has been observed that there are a large number of projects, both of the central                                                                           government, state governments are held up due to ineffective handling of issues. The                                                               factors also include policies of the state governments, lack of prioritization at the state                                                                       level or inadequate follow up from the Central level,“ Misra is learnt to have written to                                                                     secretaries last week. Modi's chief of staff suggested that ministries take up the issues                                                                 with the state governments and sort them out in a “timebound manner“. Separately ,                                                                       the department of industrial policy and promotion has prepared a checklist to make it                                                                 easier for companies to do business, indicating that the government is keen to push                                                                           reforms in states. The move comes after the Centre eased rules in several sectors and                                                           expedited environment and forest clearances to get several road, power and coal                                                                         projects moving. There has been progress in other areas too, such as getting a green                                                                   light from the defence ministry , which had in the past blocked proposals, citing                                                                         strategic concerns. Even the home ministry has been asked to expedite all approvals.   (Source- TOI)