100-DAY REFORMS BLUEPRINT READIED

PM TO OVERSEE PLAN EXECUTION

MAN'S CORE TEAM GETS CRACKING ON REFORMS

 KEY government departments have drawn up a slew of proposals to populate an ambitious reform agenda for the first 100 days of Manmohan Singh's second term, as the re-elected UPA coalition talks up expectations and sets itself up to be judged early into its new stint in power.
    While Prime Minister Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi hold parleys with senior party leaders and alliance partners to put the new Cabinet in place, top bureaucrats in crucial economic ministries have been readying a 100-day policy timetable, aimed at giving growth a leg-up. By Tuesday evening, the specific plans of each of the ministries had reached the desk of cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekar at Raisina Hill. "The PM will take up the comprehensive programme put together by the cabinet secretary as early as Wednesday," a top bureaucrat in a key economic ministry said.
    After an unexpectedly strong showing by the Congress-led UPA coalition, which is just 11 seats short of majority in Parliament, the prime minister appears keen to make up for lost time. He had already prepared the broad contours of an economic revival plan to be taken up within days after the new government assumed office, a senior Congress leader said. Even as the election campaign was in full swing, a confident Mr Singh and Ms Gandhi had started work on a revival package, the Congress leader said. A panel of experts had been informally constituted and asked to be ready with an action plan for the first 100 days of the new government. Congress manifesto guides the crack team
"THE100-day programme is expected to be taken up by the new Cabinet in its first meeting," commerce secretary GK Pillai, a favourite to become the Cabinet secretary when the incumbent retires in June, told ET.
    Led by the Cabinet secretary, the key officials working closely on the plan include finance secretary Ashok Chawla, commerce secretary Pillai and agriculture secretary T Nandakumar.
    While the Congress manifesto has provided the main blueprint for the 100-day agenda, the unfinished reform programmes of various ministries too find a place.
    While recommendations to revive growth and ease the credit squeeze are likely to find a place in the plan, tax proposals are expected to be taken up as budget recommendations, a bureaucrat who has been involved in devising it said.
    "The Congress manifesto has called for increased oil and gas production and we are working towards meeting these objectives by getting new projects on stream shortly," petroleum secretary RS Pandey said.
    So, if the telecom ministry has prioritised the spectrum policy and the auction of 3G airwaves on top of its agenda, the farm ministry is working on taking a final call on freeing exports of wheat and rice.
    In line with the Congress manifesto, which is expected to find extensive play in the new government's agenda, the urban development ministry has recommended a national urban health mission.
    The petroleum ministry is aiming for increased domestic output and a targetted-delivery system for the poor while the commerce ministry, in line with the Congress manifesto, is looking to prioritise a social security scheme for plantation workers.
    Freed from the shackles of its erstwhile Left partners, disinvestment is making its way back into the new UPA government's agenda. There are indications that efforts will be made to see that initial public offerings of companies such as NHPC, OIL India, and RITES, which have been shortlisted for stake sales, are kicked off when market conditions improve.
    The disinvestment department under the finance ministry is also working on expanding the list of companies in which the government could reduce its stake. Among these are PowerGrid Corporation, Cochin Shipyard, and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam.

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