Modi revamps work culture in government offices

Modi is also a visionary, and is very "inspiring", Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra told IANS, echoing what appears to be a widely held view among ministers in the new government.

So much so that Mishra has given up his habit of morning "gupshup (gossip) with old time supporters. His day now begins early as he pores over files from his ministry and is briefed by officials before he settles for newspapers at his residence in Noida, a suburb adjoining the national capital.

Mandated with a task of "creating more jobs, developing skills and re-energizing the moribund small scale industries" by Modi, Mishra admitted to a changed work culture in the government.

Speaking frankly, the 73-year-old Lok Sabha MP from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh said that he along with his colleagues were trying to keep pace with Modi, who is known to work for long hours day after day.

Modi, 63, took his oath as prime minister May 26 after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party to a stunning majority in the Lok Sabha, the first time a single party won a parliamentary majority after 30 long years.

Modi is a strong votary of "minimum government, maximum governance". His aides have said he plans to implement many of his ideas now.

Describing the former Gujarat chief minister as a "visionary leader with clear-cut ideas", Mishra said his ministry would soon set the ball rolling on many schemes.

"Modiji has told me to ensure that small scale industries that have collapsed during the rule of our predecessor government are revived and unemployed youth get skill development and are made worthy enough to earn a living," Mishra told IANS in an interview.

He said officials in his ministry were already engaged in a special survey to identify "bottlenecks and roadblocks" in the way of developing small and micro industries in Uttar Pradesh, a state which both he and Modi represent in the Lok Sabha.

"The survey is being done to assess what needs to be done for both short-term revival and long-term success of these units."

Mishra's ministry is also aiming to enforce a 2006 law which fixed the onus of payment, within 45 days, on big industries for material purchased from small, micro and medium industries like weaving and bangle making.

The survey is on in Varanasi (Modi's constituency), Meerut, Firozabad, Moradabad and a few other places in Uttar Pradesh.

The ministry, Mishra adds, is also trying to simplify the registration process for small scale industry and making it a single window mechanism. Mishra said small time entrepreneurs were faced with issues like lack of interest and support from banks owing to little capital involvement, trouble with labour laws, provision of No Objection Certificates and non-cooperation by state governments.

The minister said he had in the past one month seized himself of a lot of important matters on which action will soon follow.

Asked about his experience of working with Prime Minister Modi over the past one month, Mishra gushes: "Behetreen aur aasha ka sanchaar karne waale!" (Wonderful and inspiring).

This is because Modi "comes across as not only well meaning but as one looking for answers rather than cribbing over what has been inherited," says the veteran leader from Uttar Pradesh.