M A I N   N E W S

Draw 100-day schedule listing priorities, Modi tells ministers
Wants transparent working; Says CMs will be partners
K V Prasad
Tribune News Service

Expanding on four mantras of governance – people centric, policy driven, time-bound delivery and minimum government, maximum governance, Modi asked members of his Cabinet to accord priority to issues raised by state governments and MPs, underlining his promise to work with Chief Ministers as equal partners which echoed his directions to officials at the PMO on Wednesday.

The 10-point agenda Build confidence in bureaucracy and give them enough legroom Promote fresh ideas Focus on education, energy, health, water, roads Bring transparency in govt; e-auction in tendering Evolve a system for inter-ministerial issues People-oriented system in govt machinery Address concerns of economy Infra & investment reforms Time-bound implementation Stability in govt policy

LS session from June 4 to 11 June 4-5: Oath taking June 6: Speaker’s election June 9: President’s address June 10-11: Motion of thanks; PM’s reply

At the second meeting of his Cabinet here, Modi also unveiled a 10-point agenda that outlined investment, infrastructure, economy, health, education, water, use of technology and social media to reach out to the people.

In his briefing, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, said, while issuing the guidelines, PM asked ministers to set a timetable for the first 100 days listing priorities.

The PM will also hold separate meetings with secretaries of ministries.

Modi emphasised the “most important” aspects on which the government spotlight should be focused. These include efficient governance and delivery and implementation of schemes and programmes, Naidu said adding that review of issues pending from the previous government and how to take them forward would also be done.

In the run-up to the formation of the government last week the Cabinet Secretariat directed all ministries to compile a list of decisions taken by the Manmohan Singh government but could not be implemented so that the new government could take a view whether they need to be pursue them as it is or with modifications.

Having directed the ministers to follow norms in appointing members on their personal staff from within the government and not accommodate relatives, the Prime Minister also asked senior ministers to take ministers of state along by allocating work and make them feel part of the team. During earlier Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh regimes, many junior ministers complained that senior ministers barely delegated work to them.

Naidu also announced that the Cabinet decided to hold a brief session of Parliament from June 4 to 11. The first session of the 16th Lok Sabha will begin on June 4 with new members taking oath administered by pro-tem speaker Kamal Nath and his panel. President Pranab Mukherjee will administer oath to Kamal Nath after which Speaker Meira Kumar will relinquish office.

Meanwhile, the PM announced through a tweet his resignation from Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency and retaining Varanasi.