Musk and Modi aren’t made for each other. And there is nothing common between the two. While Elon Musk, the richest entrepreneur in the world, has infiltrated the political establishment through the back door, with the help of huge donations, Narendra Modi has won the popular mandate for the third consecutive time. But both have one thing in common: minimum governance and maximum governance at minimum cost. Modi has the first-mover advantage, as he vowed to ensure responsive governance soon after he conquered the Raisina Hills in 2014. But soon, he discovered that putting India on a growth trajectory would be a better strategy for future elections than just trimming the bureaucracy.
Last week, the two met in Washington. As Musk, a father of 11 children, confabulated with the prime minister, he brought along three of his kids. Musk’s message may not have been lost on Modi—hacksaw the babudom and political executive in India. If Modi could coin another slogan like Make India Great Again or MIGA, which resonated with Trump’s winning branding of MAGA or Make America Great Again, then why not experiment partially with Musk’s maverick methods?
During the campaign, Trump had announced a new department of government efficiency under Musk, which would “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies”. Now Musk is in charge of taming and pollarding the American bureaucracy. He has begun by sticking to the golden principle of maximising returns by minimising costs. His objective is to save around $2 trillion annually, which accounts for over 28 percent of the total US government expenditure.
Musk’s target of $2 trillion is almost over half of India’s GDP. India can’t afford to dismantle the mammoth bureaucratic edifice that has been built over seven decades. But Modi and his advisors, who have delivered maximum growth, would have picked the right signals from their visit to Washington.
Undoubtedly, India needs massive administrative reforms. The PM has been repeatedly promising a better environment for the “ease of doing business”. In spite of his proactive administrative and legislative initiatives, the Indian executive is still the most powerful roadblock to a faster delivery of decisions. India is government by a top-heavy executive—both in terms of political offices and number of civil servants. India ails from having a multiplicity of authorities dealing with the same subjects.
After independence, India began with a small cabinet—a tradition that continued into the 1980s. Jawaharlal Nehru’s 14-member cabinet including himself was the smallest one, with no minister of state or deputy minister. In 1971, Indira Gandhi’s council of ministers comprised 13 cabinet ministers, 15 ministers of state and eight deputy ministers.
When Morarji Desai formed the first-ever non-Congress government by merging many parties, he was sworn in with 20 cabinet ministers and 24 ministers of state. During his tenure, various ministries were put under the charge of one cabinet minister. For example, the ministry of commerce, civil supplies and cooperation were handed to one cabinet minister.
When Rajiv Gandhi took over, he stuck to a maximum of 15 ministers and created a comprehensive ministry for energy. Later on, when he reshuffled his cabinet, he created a new department of human resource development. While he didn’t increase the cabinet size even though he had around 400 MPs in the Lok Sabha, his council grew to 49.
P V Narasimha Rao also kept the cabinet size at 16, but appointed 13 ministers of state with independent charges and kept many ministries under one person. But his council had 59 members—the largest since independence. And this trend hasn’t been reversed since.
However, as the real coalition era began with Atal Bihari Vajpayee leading a 20-odd-party government, the number of ministers rose massively, with 29 cabinet ministers, seven ministers of state with independent charge and 34 deputy ministers. Manmohan Singh broke all records by inducting 33 cabinet ministers, seven independent ministers of state and 38 other ministers of state, taking the total to 78. It was the largest permissible size under the law.
Modi, an innovator and a master of political management, couldn’t dislodge the concept of maximum government. In 2014, he began with a jumbo council of 29 cabinet ministers, five MoS with independent charge and 36 MoS, leaving scope for more inductions. Not only has he one of the largest councils, but many ministers are holding multiple departments as well. There are three ministers dealing with industry—a cabinet minister for commerce, two others for heavy industries, and for small and medium enterprises. On top, all of them have a couple of MoS working under them.
There are three ministers dealing with issues related to technology. Ashwini Vaishnaw is not only a cabinet-rank minister for IT and electronics along with railways, there are other ministers dealing with science and technology. Even the agro and rural portfolios have been demarcated to induct ministers for different departments. One MoS has the distinction of holding two independent charges and four departments for the past 10 years. Though no official estimates are available, according one senior finance ministry official, a minister with his staff and other facilities costs over Rs 3-4 crore annually.
No doubt India is the world’s largest democracy. But can it afford over 55 ministries with 100 departments, many of them dealing with similar subjects? Donald Trump has just 15 ministers or secretaries of the crucial departments. They don’t have fancy departments like we have. In the UK, too, the cabinet comprises 20 cabinet ministers.
In India, politicians are still not able to differentiate between quantity and quality. Since the Centre is top-heavy, state governments are also loaded with ministers. Since rules allow having ministers numbering up to 10-15 percent of their presence in parliament or the assemblies and legislative councils, all the states together have more than 500 ministers. Meanwhile, the Union government’s wage bill has doubled in the past five years.
Perhaps Modi may pick up an idea from Musk’s disruptive mission. According to experts, with Modi as CEO, India doesn’t need more than 15 ministers and 25 credible civil servants or professionals to convert India into Viksit Bharat by 2047. Aided by handpicked professionals, only basic ministries such as defence, home, agriculture, external affairs, education, finance, infrastructure, transport, tourism, social welfare, environment and technology can catapult India into the fastest-growing economy in real terms. Modi commands mountainous might, which he should use to deliver maximum governance with minimum government.
Prabhu Chawla
prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com
Follow him on X @PrabhuChawla
Read all of Prabhu Chawla's work here