Modi axes all GoMs, eGoMs for fast decisions

www.mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, June 1, 2014: Aiming to speed up decision-making and also fix responsibility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday scrapped all 30 Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) constituted by the previous UPA government to thrash out complex problems.

Modi’s office issued a statement announcing that, henceforth, various ministries and departments will process the issues pending before these panels and take appropriate decisions at their level.

Modi sought to signal a return to the old system of ministries being the nodal agencies which eventually have to be accountable for decision making and decisions taken, officials said.

Modi wanted individual ministers and their ministries to have the freedom to take decisions but also remain accountable.

The NDA government had inherited 21 GoMs and nine EGoMs from the past regime.The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet Secretary will act as facilitators as and when needed by any ministry, which the PMO termed a  “major move” to empower the ministries and departments. Modi saw the UPA arrangement as the hallmark of the Manmohan Singh government which resulted in “policy paralysis”.

The GoMs could not take quick decisions as there were too many opinions to consider and the ministries concerned had little say.

Modi is expected to eventually set up a high-level committee in the PMO, comprising technocrats, economists and policy experts to assist the ministries in arriving at right decisions and help in removing bottlenecks. Though the GoMs came into vogue under coalition regimes, the Manmohan Singh government broke the record with the highest number of such panels.

They handled such diverse issues as spectrum pricing, formation of Telangana state, administrative reforms, inter-state water dispute, food procurement and coal block allocation.

Former defence minister A K Antony headed most of the EGoMs after Pranab Mukherjee became the President.

EGoMs had the power to take decisions on a par with the Union Cabinet while recommendations of the GoMs were placed before the Cabinet for final nod.  Since 2009, the Congress- led UPA coalition had set up a total of 76 GoMs and 16 EGoMs.

By the time it demitted office, the figure dropped to 30.