Meet The Team XI That Kept The Policy Scoreboard Ticking Through Modi 2.0

Over the past several years, the prime minister has been hand-picking his team of top babus, who, at times, report directly to him, speeding up decision-making.

They not only run the steel frame that binds India but also are responsible for ideas that help the PM and his government navigate the challenges they face and deliver on the responsibilities they have.

In a two-part series, The Secretariat seeks to offer a snapshot of the movers and shakers in the back office, which helped NDA-2.0 have a successful run. Read on!

Pramod Kumar Mishra:  PM’s Silent Man Friday  

If one were to look closely at the many photographs from the Prime Minister’s meetings, one would find a slightly balding, bespectacled man sitting right behind Narendra Modi. 

The man, who could be easily mistaken for a university doyen, is Pramod Kumar Mishra, the current principal secretary to the Prime Minister, popularly referred to as PK and known as his right-hand man or, in the words of his contemporaries, the “PM’s Man Friday”. 

Starting as additional principal secretary in Modi's first term, he was redesignated Principal Secretary to the PM in September 2019 upon the departure of Nripendra Mishra, the then-powerful Principal Secretary to the PM. 

Hailing from Sambalpur in Odisha, Mishra, aged 75 years, is a 1972 batch Gujarat cadre officer and is known as a man of few words. 

Colleagues who have worked with him, either in the state or in Raisina Hill, say Mishra keeps a very low profile. Some suggest his poker-faced demeanor makes it a challenge for many to discern what he approves of and what he doesn't, a beguiling trait that often fools people. 

P K Mishra’s association with Modi goes back to when he served as his principal secretary during the PM's stint as chief minister of Gujarat.

In his current job, he oversees all important policy formulation and follows up on projects the Prime Minister is keen on. One of his focus areas is to manage the cabinet agenda and follow up with various departments on the work or policy measures sanctioned at cabinet meets. Apart from that, he keeps an eye on top appointments and issues related to law and justice.

According to insiders in the current regime, no important appointment in this government can go through without PK's nod. 

Under UPA I at the Centre, he was Secretary, Agriculture and before that Additional Secretary, Home. 

A graduate of Delhi School of Economics, his forte is said to be economics and agriculture. While working during and after the Gujarat earthquake, he also developed mastery over policies related to disaster and crisis management. Mishra, an avid reader, wrote ‘The Kutch Earthquake 2001: Recollection Lessons and Insights’. 

Many believe it won't be a surprise if he returns as the PM's right-hand man in Modi 3.0.

Rajiv Gauba: Mr Capable 

Rajiv Gauba, a 1982-batch IAS from the Jharkhand cadre, has earned the distinction of becoming the longest-serving Cabinet Secretary and will have held that coveted post for 5 long years in August this year. 

A close confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has headed India’s iron frame through a difficult period when the bureaucracy was at the forefront of battling a global pandemic and then coming up with huge social spending to try and oil the wheels of economic recovery. 

Gauba, 64, who was home secretary before taking on the top job, earned his spurs with the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, bifurcating the former princely state into two union territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh – while scrapping Article 370 which had given the state a special status in the Indian constitution.

This one single move helped the ruling alliance win overwhelming support not only from its political constituency but also from businesses and other stakeholders while stamping Gauba as a highly “capable” bureaucrat and earning him his elevation. 

However, insiders say what earned him extension after extension as ‘Cab Sec’ is his uncanny ability to understand what works and what does not and adapt solutions midway to deliver what the “boss” wants.

When Gauba realised that ‘Make in India’ was not working as it was the 1960s Import substitution regime with a new name and was actually ending up producing goods at uncompetitive prices, he quickly changed gear and came up with ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ a scheme which pivots on productivity linked incentives to encourage global and domestic industry to shift manufacturing towards India.

Even though the scheme has not succeeded as much as Vietnam’s similar program to attract industrial “eagles” or high flyers, the Indian version has had its notable successes in some areas such as mobile phones, chip manufacturing, and aircraft parts manufacturing. 

But more than a success story, the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ slogan has become a political leitmotif for the ruling party in its bid to attract youth with a promise of a better future despite struggling with unemployment levels.

Amitabh ‘Can-Do’ Kant 

Four years ago, the high-flying Amitabh Kant hit the national headlines with his controversial comment that “tough reforms” were “very difficult in the Indian context” as “we are too much of a democracy”.

The suave Stephanian, who then headed the Niti Aayog, was quick to add that the current government had shown “courage” and “determination” in pushing reforms across sectors.  

The 68-year-old former IAS officer came into prominence when as the Kerala  tourism secretary, he shepherded the “God’s Own Country” tourism campaign. He repeated the feat with the Incredible India campaign when heading the tourism ministry at the Centre. 

When Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, Kant, a 1980 batch officer, was the Industry Secretary who soon transformed into the PM’s “Can-Do” man delivering promises. He developed the ease of doing business index for the country and tried to cut down red tape wherever possible. The Start-Up India campaign was another brainchild of the 1980 batch bureaucrat. 

Soon after Modi scrapped the Planning Commission and formed the Niti Aayog in 2015, Kant was made its CEO. Since then he got three extensions before he was moved to manage the G20 Summit in mid-2022.

Kant has been a key driver of such flagship initiatives as the Startup India, Make in India and Incredible India. These initiatives have been transformational in their outcomes and helped India reposition itself as a global economic powerhouse.   

In his current stint as Sherpa of the G20 meeting, he is believed to have worked tirelessly not only to have a bouquet of events leading up to the main heads of government meet but also build consensus. Along with his foreign service colleagues, Kant papered over differences over the Russia-Ukraine war and other prickly issues.

What makes him indispensable is that unlike most bureaucrats he thinks out of the box. His only Achilles' heel; colleagues describe him as “super-efficient”, but "opinionated at times". 

Amit Khare: The Listener

Khare, a Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch, joined the PMO as an advisor to the Prime Minister in October 2022 on an extension after retiring in September 2021. 

A former secretary in Information & Broadcasting, and Education, Khare, 62, is known to be a sharp and experienced officer working in consonance with the PMO over the past five years. His associates and colleagues term him, "a wise man who is also a good listener".

As Deputy Commissioner, Chaibasa (now in Jharkhand), he had unearthed the fodder scam and dredged up details of a case that later helped indict Lalu Prasad Yadav.

From 2008 to 2014 under the UPA, Khare served as joint secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry, which has now been renamed the Education Ministry. In 2018, he came back as Higher Education and School Education Secretary.

Khare came in just when the capital’s elite Jawaharlal Nehru University was on the boil with student protests against a hike in hostel fees. The new secretary is believed to have acted quickly to stem the protests by meeting the JNU vice-chancellor and partially rolling back the hike.

An alumnus of New Delhi's prestigious St Stephen’s College and IIM, Ahmedabad, Khare's last achievement before coming to the PMO was to give shape to the National Education Policy 2020, a programme the Modi government undertook despite criticism from several quarters.

Girish Chandra Murmu: Loyal Soldier

G C Murmu, who hails from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, is seen as The Prime Minister’s “loyal soldier” at all times. He came into prominence in 2004 when he was given the task of handling the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

Colleagues say that the officer advised both the then chief minister Modi and Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah on handling the case. The loyalist, now 64, eventually became principal secretary in the CM’s office.

When Modi shifted to Delhi after a spectacular victory in 2014, Murmu was among the first lot of officers requisitioned for the new Central government. 

The 1985 batch officer soon became part of a small core team of officers who assisted the Prime Minister in crafting crucial policy decisions.

After Jammu & Kashmir state was split into two union territories, Murmu who was to retire a month later was made the first lieutenant governor of the crucial Jammu & Kashmir territory in October 2019. 

There were fears in some quarters that public protests and militancy may rear its head against the decision to bifurcate the state. The first crucial year was Murmu’s to manage and he performed according to the expectations of his bosses in the new union territory. 

The prize for his efficiency was appointment to the job of Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Again a crucial function that audits the working of the central and state governments and whose reports on issues ranging from telecom to award of mining leases have often sparked political storms.

Read the concluding part of this two-part series that focuses on a select band of policymakers who have been at the core of managing the economy.