PM seeks status report on GoMs

Concerned over the pace of decision-making in the plethora of Group of Ministers (GoMs) set up in his regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought a report on the status of work assigned to them.

As many as 34 GoMs had been set up during the tenure of this government, official sources said. At last count, nearly 20 of these were still existing, though some of them have not met even once.

If one takes into account the various panels and task forces that have also been constituted, the total number of such non-Cabinet bodies adds up to over 50.

The prime minister has also instructed Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi to obtain a one-page note from the secretary of each central ministry on the measures being undertaken by them to speed up procedures in their respective departments.

The reports were sought by the prime minister after a recent meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the next level of economic reforms.

Government officials told Business Standard that the meeting also discussed delays in the decision-making process due to multiple considerations.

"The prime minister is keen to speed up file movement, and the working of the appointment committee of Cabinet. He is likely to review this at a meeting early next month," an official said.

The UPA government has in the last two years set up GoMs on several issues including special economic zones, telecom spectrum, textile exports, duty waiver and declared goods status for LNG, and the Regulation of Foreign Universities Bill.