The Most Decorated Bureaucrats in our Union Cabinet - Distinguished and Talented Ministers.

A few days ago I stumbled upon a podcast interview of a thought provoking author - Radhakrishnan Pillai.

One of his remarks, that made a deep impression on my mind was about the core significance of bureaucrats in politics. I learnt that there's so much impact a bureaucrat can make which a politician can't.

Just a while ago, in our Public Administration blog we saw how bureaucrats are the connecting link between the government and the cizitens. We learnt how bureaucrats are the very hands of politicians, which execute actual groundwork.

Radhakrishnan Pillai, in that interview, says that politicians have no actual time to think. He meant that there's just so much activity - meeting corporate leaders, interacting with activists, inspecting ongoing projects, pompy showcasing of the party image and so on. Living such a public life, they really have litte to no time to sit back, think and strategise new progressive ideas, creative and constructive ways to make the nation thrive.

Here's where the bureaucrats come in. They are the ones whose task is to plan, analyse and monitor, manage the effectiveness of our growth.

So, I believe, the more effective bureaucracy in our country, more strengthened our inner skeleton. Bad bureaucracy is more damaging than bad politicians.

Imagine a country that is run by some of the smartest people you know. Imagine entrepreneurs, experienced diplomats and civil servants, IITians, harvard graduates and others who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields deciding on policy matters!

What if I tell you that you don't need to imagine it, but you're actually living in such a country? That's right. Our Cabinet Ministry includes all such distinguished leaders out there.

Brief Introduction to the Union Council of Ministers.

The Union Council of Ministers is the highest executive body of the Government of India. The council is responsible for exercising administrative authority in the nation and advising the president of India. It is chaired by the prime minister and consists of the heads of each of the executive government ministries.

Currently, the council is headed by prime minister Narendra Modi and consists of 31 members, including the prime minister.

A smaller executive body called the Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India; it is a subset of the Union Council of Ministers who hold important portfolios and ministries of the government.

In today's blog, I have decided to introduce to you some of the most decorated bureaucrats who run our nation smoothly and efficiently.

1. Rajeev Chandrashekhar

Rajeev Chandrashekhar is a Rajya Sabha MP, who is currently the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister in State for Electronics and Information Technology.

Having studied electrical engineering at MIT, Manipal, he completed Masters in Computer Science from Illinois Institute if Technology, Chicago. Chandrashekhar even worked at Intel, where he was part of the team that designed the  i1486 processor. He is also an entrepreneur, a technocrat.

As a first-term MP, he was the first one to raise corruption like 2G Scam in parliament and is outspoken MP on issues that concern Governance.

2. Hardeep Singh Puri

Currently serving as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri is a 1974 batch IFS officer and was stationed at important diplomatic posts in Brazil, where he was ambassador, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom where he was Deputy High Commissioner. He has also served as the permanent representative of India to the United Nations.

He was also the chairman of the UN security council's Counter-Terrorism Committee.

 Hardeep Puri has served as Joint secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs from 1994 to 1997, and from 1999 to 2002. He has also served as Joint secretary to the Government of India in Ministry of Defence from 1997 to 1999.

In March 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was sent to the neighboring nation of Ukraine, Budapest in Hungary to assist coordination efforts. He was one of the minister in a special envoy of four ministers and successfully brought back 6711 students to India, following the Operation Ganga initiative.

3. Ashwini Vaishnav

Ashwini Vaishnav is a Rajya Sabha MP who is presently the Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology.

He completed his M. Tech from IIT Kanpur, and joined the IAS in 1994 with an All-India-Rank of 27. Vaishnav also attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he got his MBA.

He has experience in both public and private sector enterprises, and is also an entrepreneur.

Vaishnaw has argued in Parliament that the current economic slowdown is cyclical in nature and is not a structural slowdown and that it is likely to bottom out by March and would be followed by solid growth. Vaishnaw firmly believes that the way to build the country is to put the money in investment rather than putting money in consumption.

4. Jayant Sinha

Previously a Minister of State in Finance and Minister of State in Aviation, Jayant Sinha is a graduate from IIT Delhi and the University of Pennsylvania. Sinha also attended the Harvard Business School, and obtained an MBA with distinction.

A former partner with Mckinsey Company at their Delhi and Boston offices, Sinha brings to the table his invaluable experience as a management consultant.

Jayant Sinha has participated in Indian politics and policy-making since the 1990s. When his father became Finance Minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2002), Sinha provided policy inputs on several new initiatives such as the mortgage interest tax deduction and the Saral form to file income tax returns with ease and improve tax compliance.

During the 2014 election campaign, Sinha worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help frame national economic policy, including organizing and hosting an international business leaders' forum with Mr. Modi in February 2014. Sinha has been an active contributor to the BJP's efforts to develop new campaign management technologies and systems.

Sinha also played a crucial role in conceptualising the framework for the strategic privatization of Air India including the creation of an innovative SPV structure to manage Air India's non-core assets. Sinha has also worked with the Air India Board to formulate the MaharajahDirect strategy for Air India to become a competitive global airline.

5. Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India.

During his adolescence, he worked for the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the student union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He completed M.Com. and L.L.B. from Nagpur University.

Nitin Gadkari served as the Minister of Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and restructured it from top to bottom.

Gadkari strongly supported privatisation while he campaigned for investments in infrastructure from private firms. He addressed several meetings between private investors, contractors, builders and various trade organisations and diverted large amounts of budgeted projects towards privatisation. Subsequently, the state government allocated ₹7 billion for rural connectivity. Over the next four years, all-weather road connectivity in Maharashtra was extended to 98% of the population. The project aimed to connect 13,736 remote villages which remained unconnected since independence by road.

In his book, India Aspires, Gadkari spells out his development ideas for the country in great detail. Increased institutional support to green energy, alternate fuel and effective waste management hold special importance in Gadkari's development plan. 

6.  Subramanium Jaishankar

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is an Indian diplomat and politician serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India, with a career experience as a diplomat spanning over 38 years.

He joined the Indian Foreign Services in 1977 and served in different capacities in India and abroad, including as a High Commissioner to Singapore and as Ambassador to the Czech Republic, China and USA.

Jaishankar played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement. He has previously also served as a Foreign Secretery from 2015 to 2018, and is the first former Foreign Secretary to head the Ministry of External Affairs as its Cabinet Minister.

The face of Indian diplomacy, S Jaishankar has been redefining India's foreign policy with his suave demeanour and 'Nation First' approach.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, following which several Russian industries faced sanctions from the West, India had come under criticism for continuing to buy oil from Moscow.

Justifying India’s decision to import Russian crude oil amidst the Ukraine war, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that his moral duty is to ensure the best deal for Indians, most of whom cannot afford high energy prices.

He said India is not doing it in a "defensive way".

"We are being very open and honest about our interests. I have a country that has a per capita income of two thousand dollars. These are not people who can afford higher energy prices," Mr. Jaishankar said. He has always been outspoken regarding the Europe's hypocrisy.

So friends, these are some of the finest bureaucrats of our country, constantly trying to bridge the gap between govt policies and on-ground realities, ensuring India's rising economic and diplomatic stature in the world.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.