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Modi 2.0: Fury of disruption

By Rakesh Ranjan- 24 Aug 2020
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Modi 2.0 continues with disrupting the power structure and its patronage system built over the last 50 years. This has made the power and pelf seeking rentier class go helter-skelter and turned them into bitter critics of the NDA dispensation. 

While Modi 1.0 was limited in its disruptive game to demonetization/remonetization that overnight turned the assets of the political, business, and intellectual rentier class into naught, thus crippling their ability to bring about a regime change in 2019, Modi 2.0 has been more vigorous in breaking down the remnants of the previous power structures.

After the rollout of the GST in Modi 1.0, Modi's second term ensured that the new regime of One Nation One Tax severely curtailed the discretionary powers of the IRS Customs and Central Excise Department.

The worst sufferers are IRS Income Tax cadre. The recently introduced Faceless IT Assessment is believed to have broadly marginalized them in their field formations. Reportedly, the initiative made them largely irrelevant in terms of their power and privileges while implementing and assessing IT rules.

Further, the Government's greater application of Social Media tools like Twitter and Fb for the announcement of government news and views has clipped the powers of mainstream media by limiting their ability to scoop news.

Further, the centralization of news and views broadcast has made ministers and senior officials faceless and unknown, reminding one of Hindi song "Gumnaam hai koi." There was a time Union ministers, in public life, were recognized by face. They used to appear in the advertisements of their respective ministries; and every day ministers would become part of news with public-policy statements. Now it's difficult to recognize ministers by face, except few ones. They rarely speak in public.

Like Ministers who have to look up for direction, civil services have also realized that the days of their taking liberty with the political bosses are over and they must fall in line with the direction from the PMO.

Even IAS officers, who were once considered the most powerful bloc of the government and dominated all other services, have to live with their declining clout. Not only are fewer number of IAS officers are getting empanelled as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary, more JS and AS level empanelments are being made from other services (AIS & Group A & B Central Services).  

The merger of eight major cadres of the Indian Railways into one single service -- the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) – that is likely to be completed by November this year is another vertical which feels the heat of disruption. It is believed that the merger would end the fiefdom of particular services which keeps changing with the dominance of cadres in Railway Board.

Even MPs (Member of Parliament) are losing their perks. Immediately after the COVID Pandemic and socio-economic crises looming ahead, the Cabinet suspended MP LAD funds for five years. To save their face in public, even opposition and regional political parties' MPs could not protest and silently accepted the decision, even though it meant a huge loss for them.

What has made the subject more relevant today is the fact that the latest disruptive move of faceless, seamless, painless IT Reform has given IRS IT cadre immense pain to cope up and adapt.   

(By Rakesh Ranjan)

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