The Nation: Task Force PM

In the past week, some of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's inner circle have been busy digesting lessons in governance from Washington. The Clinton Administration, they say, works very much like a newspaper office. It has a special task force to look after the president's image. They meet each morning with a one-point agenda: determining next morning's headlines.

It is hardly surprising that image overhaul has become a central preoccupation of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Barely 50 days in office, the Vajpayee Government has been feeling the pinch of public restiveness over its apparent inactivity. Where other newly elected regimes enjoy a honeymoon before being burdened by the problems of incumbency, the BJP-led coalition devoted its initial month in office first cobbling together a majority and, subsequently becoming bogged down in managing it. "It has been a bad start," conceded a senior cabinet minister, "we are conveying an impression of being overwhelmed by power."

To prevent the impression from becoming an irredeemable fact, Vajpayee was galvanised into a flurry of activity. He chose the national conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) -- an event calculated to secure saturation media coverage -- to try and prove the sceptics wrong. In the "Think Big" address to captains of industry, Vajpayee jettisoned three important facets of his post-prime ministerial interventions: ambiguity, woolliness and platitudes. Always ill at ease with prepared texts, Vajpayee nevertheless shed his inhibitions to deliver a speech that was uncharacteristically blunt, clear-headed and purposeful. For those expecting another dose of political non-speak, he surprised everyone by announcing a concrete set of measures that the Government will pursue in the next three months.

Assurance that the PMO will directly monitor all infrastructure projects costing over Rs 100 crore Assurance that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board will be empowered to decide on every foreign direct investment proposal within 60 days.

Promise to "drastically overhaul" the Companies Act and replace the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act with "legislation consistent with current needs".

A national housing policy within 60 days and modification of the Urban Land Ceiling Act to give a "boost to construction".

A task force to draft a national informatics policy to enhance competitiveness in information technology.

Steps to reduce the "currently untenable" level of non-performing assets of banks and financial institutions.

Machinery for speedy resolution of disputes involving the Revenue Department and business.

It was a heady list that earned the prime minister a genuine standing ovation. As did his assurance that the Government's relationship with industry "will be based on trust, not marred by mistrust". "I come from a political tradition that does not look upon commerce and industry with distrust," he said, deftly skirting the more contentious issue of swadeshi. "When it was conventional political expediency to decry entrepreneurship, we championed their cause. As a government, we will do more."

For India's business community, reeling from the effects of an economic slowdown, this was sweet music. And they responded by asking the prime minister to do what he likes best: recite poetry.

Not that the entire exercise was aimed at successfully grabbing the headlines. Image overhaul undoubtedly played a major role in determining the timing of the prime minister's new-found sense of mission, but it was not entirely prompted by it. The relatively cautious note of the Vajpayee Government stems from a combination of design and circumstances.

To say that the BJP was unprepared for power is an understatement. Despite controlling and having a stake in at least nine state governments over the past five years, the party has been remarkably short of both ideas and experience of governance. The BJP has produced a surfeit of ideologues well versed in the complexities of national identity, but few have actually addressed themselves to the nitty-gritty of handling power. Home Minister L.K. Advani admitted as much in his candid address to the party national executive on April 11. Even the crucial inputs for the prime minister's CII speech were derived from people outside the party fold.

To offset this obvious shortcoming, Vajpayee has borrowed a leaf from public management strategies in the West. He has come to rely on specialist task forces that study a subject and come up with innovative solutions within a time frame. These, in turn, will constitute the framework of national policy. The idea is believed to have emerged from discussions with a management guru who has advised various governments in Europe and America.

A task force on defence review headed by former defence minister K.C. Pant, with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh and Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses Director Jasjit Singh as members. The group will determine the constitution of the proposed National Security Council. Its report is expected by July.

Task force on Centre-state financial and administrative devolution headed by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Task force on laws, rules and regulations governing industry. This recently announced group will firm up a package to redefine and minimise the role of the state in the economy.

In addition, a task force on public grievances redress is on the anvil. Within the External Affairs Ministry, the prime minister is also likely to form a task force to give concrete shape to the "dual nationality" proposal that has traditionally been resisted by the Home Ministry.

But even the task force approach does not take into account one problem that is proving virtually insurmountable: the lack of competent people to fill crucial vacancies in important jobs. The posts that are going abegging are the heads of parliamentary committees, high commissioners in London and Pretoria, members of the Planning Commission, directors of the Reserve Bank of India, other nationalised banks and public-sector undertakings. Although many of these posts -- like the occupancy of Raj Bhavans in the states -- are traditionally reserved for loyal party workers, the Vajpayee Government is proceeding cautiously. It wants to have the first pick from those who, while being politically sympathetic, are nevertheless competent. Such lofty intentions may be thwarted. As lobbying intensifies and the logic of political patronage asserts itself, the prime minister may find that it is best to follow a line of least resistance.

THINKING BIG

The time has come to insulate the economy as much as possible from the turmoil in its democratic polity.
They (citizens) must pay for what they use. And they must also get what they pay for.
The Government will play less and less of an active player in the economy, and more and more of a legislator, facilitator and regulator.
My Government's relationship with industry will be based on trust, not marred by mistrust.
We will ensure that crucial Government Orders are not passed without first ascertaining their consequences on domestic industry.
Unemployment in India is more than a statistic. It means hardship and ruin. Sometimes even suicides.
Swadeshi means that the bulk of the resources needed for our development must be mobilised by ourselves.
Let us together create a mindset revolution to harmonise the objectives of economic liberalisation and social liberation.