"Bureaucratic Nightmare" and Beyond: M Venkaiah Naidu’s 10 commandments

URBAN development minister M Venkaiah Naidu’s pep talk to about 130 senior officials of Nirman Bhawan three days ago might not have grabbed headlines in mainstream media, but his tough message that India can’t afford to be seen as a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ reportedly shook the babus to an extent. After all, this is the same line prime minister Narendra Modi has taken for Indian bureaucracy. The officials at the rank of under secretaries, deputy secretaries, directors, joint secretaries and secretaries attended the 50-minute-long pep talk. Here are minister Naidu’s 10 commandments:

1. To elevate individual conscience to a higher level in the cause of nation building;
2. To internalize the attitudes of punctuality, discipline, dedication and righteousness;
3. To unleash the force of initiative and innovation;
4. To foster team spirit instead of working in silos;
5. To enhance domain knowledge to facilitate quick and informed decision making;
6. To acquire required skills necessary for speedy decision making and scaling up output;
7. To promote delegation of responsibilities;
8. To promote transparency and accountability not under duress but as a virtue;
9. To ask oneself at the end of the day if one has done justice to the responsibilities given during the day; and
10. To keep work environment clean and motivating.