Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting of secretaries from all Central ministries, with discussions centred on policy reforms, administrative efficiency, ease of doing business and the government’s long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting of secretaries from all Central ministries, with discussions centred on policy reforms, administrative efficiency, ease of doing business and the government’s long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
The meeting, attended by Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra, Principal Secretary Shaktikanta Das, the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, and secretaries of key ministries and departments, marked one of the Prime Minister’s first full-secretary-level interactions in the current financial year.
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According to sources, the meeting aimed to align the country’s top bureaucracy with the government’s policy priorities for the second half of 2026 while reviewing progress on major governance initiatives and accelerating administrative execution.
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A key focus of the deliberations was improving the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) by identifying administrative bottlenecks, reducing bureaucratic red tape, simplifying regulatory compliance and enhancing India’s economic competitiveness. Officials also reviewed measures to improve the Ease of Living (EoL) through citizen-centric reforms and structural changes designed to strengthen governance and public service delivery.
The meeting also assessed progress under the government’s ambitious Viksit Bharat 2047 roadmap, which seeks to transform India into a developed nation by the centenary of Independence. Secretaries reviewed long-term developmental targets and implementation strategies across ministries.
Another important agenda item was the “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks” campaign, under which ministries are expected to implement a series of governance reforms within a fixed timeline. The Prime Minister reviewed the pace of implementation and sought updates on the initiative’s execution and performance.
The integration of next-generation technologies across government departments also featured prominently in the discussions. Ministries presented updates on adopting artificial intelligence and other digital tools aimed at improving operational efficiency, speeding up decision-making and reducing delays in service delivery.
Individual secretaries reportedly presented detailed reports on their respective ministries’ performance, highlighting reform milestones, implementation challenges and policy outcomes.
Tuesday’s meeting assumes significance as it comes amid the Centre’s continued emphasis on administrative efficiency, regulatory simplification and outcome-oriented governance. It was also the Prime Minister’s second major interaction with the country’s top bureaucracy in less than two months.
The review follows a similar high-level exercise held on May 21, when Prime Minister Modi convened a joint meeting of the Union Council of Ministers and Central secretaries to prepare regulatory roadmaps aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
During that meeting, the Prime Minister urged officials to accelerate decision-making, ensure government files moved without unnecessary delays and simplify governance through structural reforms. Stressing the importance of long-term planning, he told officials that “Viksit Bharat 2047” was not merely a slogan but a long-term commitment of the government.
The May review also included an assessment of ministries’ performance, advising lower-ranked departments to take corrective measures and improve their functioning. According to sources, that exercise was viewed as a mid-term assessment of the government’s overall performance.
The Prime Minister had also directed ministers during the earlier meeting to engage more actively with the public and effectively communicate the government’s achievements over the past 12 years, underlining the importance of both governance delivery and public outreach.
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