Indian Defence Review

Instead, the result achieved was quite the opposite. The PM was apparently not briefed by his officials in the PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat that the transcript of the discussions would be released to the public and hence he should be careful while talking about State-to-State relations with other countries. As a result, some of his remarks have caused serious embarrassment.

The PM apparently did not also get himself properly  briefed about the corruption cases in various stages of investigation and prosecution. This has resulted in the PM making statements in matters relating to the Commonwealth Games that are not factually correct.

It is unfortunate that Dr.Manmohan Singh finds himself constrained to say and prove in vain that he is in charge because large sections of the people and opinion-makers of this country do not believe he is in charge.

The PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat are the nerve-centres of the Government of India. The PMO acts as the personal nerve-centre of the PM. The Cabinet Secretariat acts as the nerve-centre of the Council of Ministers. If the PMO functions unsatisfactorily it reflects poorly on the leadership of the Prime Minister as the head of the Executive. If the Cabinet Secretariat , which also comes under the PM, functions inadequately it reflects poorly on the functioning of the Council of Ministers and the Government as a whole.

How effective is the command and control in the Government of India can be seen from the effective manner in which the PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat function. How effective are the PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat is dependent on how effective is the assertion of the executive authority by the PM.

Just by the Prime Minister asserting before a small group of pampered Editors that “I am in charge” doesn’t necessarily prove that he is in charge. If he is effectively in charge, he does not have to proclaim it from the roof-top.The people will notice it from the way the Government functions.

Past Prime Ministers never had to proclaim from the roof-top that they were in charge. The people knew that they were in charge. It is unfortunate that Dr.Manmohan Singh finds himself constrained to say and prove in vain that he is in charge because large sections of the people and opinion-makers of this country do not believe he is in charge.

It is time for the Prime Minister to do an introspection and give a real shake-up to the way the Government has been functioning.

I hold Dr.Manmohan Singh in great esteem. The country ought to be proud of his contribution as an academic, as the No.2 in the South-South Commission, as a bureaucrat and as the Finance Minister. But his contribution as the Prime Minister of this country—particularly post-2009— has left much to be desired.

I had written about this earlier. I hate myself for writing about this again. But still I do because I feel I will be doing a disservice to the country if I do not do so. I will not be worth my salt as an ex- senior bureaucrat if I did not do so.