MANAGING A NATION OF DIVERSITIES
Lack of supervisory responsibility resulted in many ills like the evasiveness of seniors in making crucial decisions, distortions in credit-sharing and political-bureaucratic nexus that bred corruption. In the PM Modi regime, there is an upward revision of accountability.
Quick decision-making, time-bound implementation of policy and involvement of all in the vertical hierarchy in the march towards the ‘mission’ set for them, constitute the mandate defined by Prime Minister Modi for those having a role in governance and this is evident in the speedy character of policy-making and delivery of projects in his regime. This is setting the turf also for the future when the ruling dispensation would be judged by its performance and not by its politics.
As India registers a steady rise in its status as a world power whose opinion matters on issues of war and peace and global economic development, it is important that those ruling the country remain well-informed on matters of national security considering the fact that we live in an era where open warfare had given way to ‘proxy wars’ and covert cross-border attacks.
Newer methods were being adopted by the adversary for weakening our country -- digital media and cyberspace had opened up scope for ‘information battles’ and ‘influence warfare’.
‘Misinformation’ is an instrument of combat through social media and international lobbies often in collaboration with civil society groups at home have taken to narrative-building and influence peddling in an attempt to run down an existing regime. Think tanks and strategic experts may be targeted and influenced one way or the other, for this purpose. Sometimes this may throw up conflicts between freedom of expression on one hand and an adverse effect of certain activities and writings, on the other. The role of the judiciary becomes crucial in deciding what is not valid in a plea for the exercise of human rights.
Prime Minister Modi is fully aware of the new dimensions of national security -- he is aided by an extremely competent National Security Advisor. There is a new challenge for our Intelligence agencies which had to ascertain if inimical elements were in play behind any motivated social media activity or manipulation against the national interests. Since national security is inseparable from economic security, the adversary would be planning to damage the economic lifelines, supply chains and digital infrastructure on which strategic establishments function.
All this added to the burden of our national security setup. It also gave new-found importance to inter-agency coordination between the Intelligence organisations and investigation agencies looking into terror-related or economic offences of a certain kind.
The success of the Narendra Modi government in the sphere of efficient implementation of policy decisions is of course attributable to the clarity and political boldness of the Prime Minister in the area of decision-making but equally important is the transformational improvement he has brought about in the working of the administrative machinery that was primarily responsible for quick follow up.
Prime Minister Modi has personally seen to it that senior officials were put on specific assignments on the basis of their commitment to public service, intrinsic abilities, and reputation for hard work. There is smoothness in the relationship between Ministers and their senior team of officials for they all know the Prime Minister’s mind and understand his capacity to keep an eye on detail and on the progress being made on all projects on various fronts. The Prime Minister is on top of his administration and all Ministers and bureaucrats under his regime look up to him for guidance.
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