PM Modi sets up 8 groups of secretaries for focussed attention

NEW DELHI: With his thrust on "transformative change", Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up eight groups of Secretaries for focussed attention on areas like 'Good governance', inclusive growth, employment generation, education and health, Swachch Bharat and energy efficiency.

One Secretary will act as a Rapporteur in each group and moderate the group meetings.

The groups were set up as a follow-up to Modi's interaction will all the Secretaries to the government of India on December 31 when he asked bureaucrats to "get cracking" to deliver results and ensure "transformative change" with focus on improving the lives of people.

During the 70-minute interaction, the Prime Minister had said that the "vast expertise" of the Secretaries in various domains of the governance should now be leveraged to bring about "breakthroughs, rather than incremental change".

He had exhorted Secretaries to come up with ideas for "transformative change" in areas such as good governance, employment generation, education and health, farmer-centric initiatives, innovative budgeting, accelerated inclusive growth, Swachh Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation; and energy efficiency.

He had emphasised that in each of these areas, the focus should be on measures which will transformatively improve the lives of people.

The subjects on which the groups have been set up are -- 'Good Governance - challenges and opportunities', 'employment generation strategies', 'farmer-centric initiatives in agriculture and allied sectors', 'education and health - universal access and quality', 'innovative budgeting and effective implementation', 'accelerated growth with inclusion and equity', 'Swachch Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation' and 'energy efficiency and conservation'.

Two of these groups will make a presentation to him tomorrow. These are 'Good Governance' group whose rapporteur is Information Technology Secretary J S Deepak and 'energy efficiency' group whose Rapporteur is Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar, according to sources.

It would be followed by presentations from three groups on January 15 and remaining three groups on January 17.