Govt constitutes 10 new groups of secretaries to focus on agriculture, transport, energy etc.; 8 earlier groups disbanded

Union Secretaries While Listening to PM

THE government is constituting 10 new groups of union secretaries which will focus on sectors such as agriculture, energy, transport etc. and submit their reports by the end of November. These groups will replace eight earlier groups of secretaries constituted in January this year which in turn had worked on specific themes. In a meeting held on Thursday where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met all the secretaries, it was cabinet secretary PK Sinha who…

made a brief presentation on the work of the eight earlier groups. The meeting was also attended by Cabinet ministers and ministers of state for independent charge. The rapporteurs for two out of the eight groups also made presentations on the status of implementation of the recommendations of their groups, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Speaking of the occasion, Prime Minister emphasized on demographic dividend and said all new groups must prioritize harnessing the strengths of the 800 million youth of India as part of their recommendations.

PM also asked the secretaries to engage young officers to research related issues.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister on Thursday also made 2014 batch IAS officers who were attached to Central government offices as assistant secretaries. PM told them that politics should never override policy. He urged the officers to use two touchstones to help them in their decision-making: 1. The decisions should never be counter to national interest, and 

2. The decisions should not harm the poorest of the poor.

Young officers also made eight presentations on issues such as DBT, e-Courts, health, MyGoV, satellite-based mining surveillance system, Swachh Bharat, tourism and waste exchange. 

Many senior officers present during the presentations were highly impressed by the young officers’ presentations. Finance secretary and 1980 batch IAS Ashok Lavasa took to Twitter to compliment the young officers: “Kudos 2014 batch Asstt Secretaries for making very relevant, focussed and effective presentations brilliantly before a large audience led by PM”.