Narendra Modi

The Chief Minister of Gujarat

Chief Minister's Secretariat

Block No. 1, 5th Floor, New Sachivalay
Gandhinagar - 382010. Gujarat
Ph. : +91-79-23232611-19, Fax L +91-79-23222101
E-mail: cm@gujaratindia.com
www.narendramodi.org
Narendra Modi
Chief Minister of Gujarat
A Man with a Mission

A Leader with Conviction

An Executive with Vision


Narendra Modi's career chronology
1972
Came to prominence as an effective 'Pracharak' with the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
1974
Played a key role in the Navnirman Andolan, an anti-corruption movement.
1975
Entrusted with the responsibility and appointed General Secretary of the
Lok Sangharsh Samiti, Gujarat.
1984
Became one of the select few individuals to be deputed to the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the RSS.
1988
Elevated to General Secretary of the State unit and actively participated in
the Somnath to Ayodhya Rathyatra led by Shri L. K. Advani and
subsequently the Kanyakumari to Kashmir Ekta Yatra lead by
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi.
1989-1995
Given charge of the BJP Election Campaign, during which the BJP lotus
blossomed, culminating with the installation of the party's own
Government with a two-thirds majority in the 1995 assembly elections in
Gujarat.
1995
Shouldered the responsibility at the national level and was made the
National Secretary of the BJP in charge of various states units like
Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
2001
Took over as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
2002
Sworn in for his second term as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, after a
landslide victory.
• Narendra Modi first became the
Chief Minister of Gujarat in
October, 2001. With his vast
experience at the grassroots
level in Gujarat and other
States, he immediately
identified the flaws in the
administration. He rejuvenated
the entire administrative
machinery by taking various
corrective measures like the
organisation of Gram Sabhas
for discussion and resolution of local issues.
• Along with key initiatives in other areas, the focus of his Government
during his first tenure was on:
effective delivery systems at the grassroots level - he rejuvenated
the local administration, organised Lok Kalyan Melas and made the review
and monitoring of schemes more effective.
welfare of women and children - he created the Department of
Women & Child Welfare to undertake welfare activities.
supply of drinking water to scarcity prone areas - special attention
was paid to the extension of piped water supply schemes based on
Narmada and other rivers to scarcity prone areas.
education, especially female education - effective schemes were
launched to enrol children in schools, reduce drop-outs and motivate girls
to attend school by implementing an incentive scheme called
'Vidyalaxmi Yojana'.
reconstruction and rehabilitation of the earthquake affected
areas - effective monitoring was carried out to bring the earthquake
devastated areas back to normalcy and create sustainable arrangements.
development of science & technology including information
technology and biotechnology - he created the Department of
Science & Technology to administer and promote initiatives and ventures
in these sectors.
On all these fronts, he took prompt and effective actions, which would
result in better long term management and benefits to the people.
A tech-savy person, he saw the potential of Information Technology to
reach out to the people. Hence e-governance was made part of the
regular administrative processes. He used devices like video and setcom
 conferencing, telephariyad (grievances over the telephone) to monitor
and communicate at various levels of administration and to get feedback
directly from the citizenry. In his office and at various departments, he
insists on computerised systems for reporting and monitoring.
• While primarily focussing on organising the administrative machinery for
effective grass-root delivery systems, he also stressed on investment
promotion in the State. He believes that strong infrastructure in the
State is the only way to get investments. Investment is imperative for the
creation of wealth and is necessary for the prosperity of the people of the
state.
• With this in mind, an International Mega Event “Resurgent Gujarat-
Business Partnership Meet” was organised at Ahmedabad in February,
2002 to bring together various players from within the country as well as
from abroad, to use the launching pad of Gujarat for leaps in
industrialisation, mainly in sectors like Information Technology,
Biotechnology, Manufacturing, Gems & Jewellery, Garments and many
others.
• This event was a big success. However, before the environment created
by this event could fructify, unfortunate incidents like the burning of
Sabarmati Express at Godhra Railway Station on 27th February, 2002 and
the subsequent communal riots diverted the attention of the people, the
Government and external agencies.
• During this time, the real political and administrative acumen of the Chief
Minister was put to the test. Narendra Modi
not only sailed through all these
situations but emerged as an
unequivocal and strong leader of the
masses of the State. People started
calling him “the Strong Man”,
“the Iron Man”.
• The Elections for the Legislative
Assembly of the State thereafter
proved this point. He fought the
elections singlehandedly and was voted
to power in a grand way with a greater
than two-thirds majority for his party.
• He realised that the thumping majority
with which he won the election, had
also cast tremendous responsibility
on his shoulders. He has stated
that as his Government was the
first elected Government of the State in the 21st Century it was essential
for his Government to lay a strong foundation for the State in the new
millennium. He has categorically stated that he cares for all of the 50
million people of the State and does not believe in the division of society
on the basis of religion or caste. For him, all people are equal and have to
be treated equally.
• At the time of his swearing-in for his second term the Chief Minister, he
had stated as his motto “justice to all, appeasement to none”.
• Having seen the Government and all its facets in his first tenure of 15
months, he realised that a major shake-up in the thinking process of the
bureaucracy and the ministries was required and that it was time to start
with a new agenda.
• The inter-departmental lack of coordination, lack of understanding and
appreciation of the issues, duplicity of schemes and efforts at various
levels, wastage, leakage and redundancies, were all addressed during
this period.
• Owing to his prior exposure at the village and state level as well as at the
national capital and various States combined with his visits and network in
around 40 countries around the world, he strove to induct the best
practices as well as national and international benchmarks in the
functioning of his Government.
• With in mind, he directed the organization of departmental workshops
within a week of his taking over as Chief Minister for the second time.
• According to this initiative, each department was asked to prepare
detailed presentations of their activities, their strong and weak points, the
opportunities and threats - a SWOT analysis of each department.
• They were expected to include their future vision of the department and
activities, how they would bring in c-governance, how they would
generate, save and effectively use resources and what they would do to
develop human resources.
• These detailed presentations of each of the departments of the
Government were made before a house comprising of the Hon'ble
Ministers of his Government as well as the Secretaries. The presentations
of the departments were followed by detailed discussions and
suggestions on their activities. The Chief Minister himself presided over all
these presentations which often extended through an entire day.
• In this month long process, nearly 150 man hours were spent in
understanding, analysing and forecasting the activities and charters of
each department. This gave a deep insight into the functioning of the
Government to all concerned.
• On various occasions, experts like Professors of the Indian Institute of
Management (IIM), the Comptroller and Auditor General of the State,
Credit Rating Agencies, Bankers and achievers in various fields were also
invited to present their views on the state's economy, its administration
and other developmental and managerial issues.
• On conclusion of the workshops, he further directed the departments to • The investors present at
immediately prepare comprehensive and concrete Action Plans based on the interaction meets could
the presentations and discussions. He strongly believes that the clearly see the dynamism
Government, educational and R&D institutions and other such bodies in the Chief Minister, the
should work in close liaison. He has expressed that the vast experience of administrative machinery
such institutions should be used as an input by the Government while of the State under his
framing the policies and processes of administration. leadership and a strong
• In keeping with this policy, he led a team of all the Ministers and all the commitment to make
Secretaries of the Government for a workshop at the IIM, Ahmedabad. Gujarat a 'vibrant global
This Institute is the most renowned management institute in the country entity'.
and the workshop was very useful to the Ministers and Secretaries in • With his understanding of
framing their viewpoints on various policy and administrative the State and astute
requirements. diagnosis of the challenges
• Narendra Modi firmly believes that governance is finally a matter of the the people have faced, he
delivery capacity of the bureaucracy and the staff. He has said that the has evolved a 5 pronged
most important way of bringing efficiency in administration is to change approach for the
the work culture. By work culture, he means that the staff has to be pro- development of the core
active, has to be responsive to the needs of the people, has to take sectors of the State. He
initiative and above all, has to have integrity and transparency in the calls this “Panchamrit
process of thinking and working. Yojana”. It consists of the
development of 5 core
• With this in mind, he directed the organization of training programme for
areas namely Education,
the officers and staff in his own office and the offices of Hon'ble Ministers.
Water, Electricity,
Training programmes were organised at Ahmedabad Management
Human Resources and
Association and were conducted successfully. This process is being
Security of the people.
carried further.
• He believes that the
• Immediately after the formation of his Government, he started work on
Government cannot afford
the agenda of economic development of the State. To begin with he
moved towards attracting further investment in the State. He used the to be lacking in these
opportunity of the celebration of Pravasi Bharathiya Divas (NRI Day) by sectors and that very
focused and concerted
efforts are required.
• As a process of changing
the work culture of the
State, he believes in converting the “red tape” to “red carpet”. As per
this strategy, he has already created single window clearance
systems for industrial and infrastructure projects. He has also directed
the creation of effective and sustainable institutional arrangements to
ensure that various stake holders especially investors find it pleasant and
hurdle-free to work with the State machinery.
• He also understands the problems in the public finance sector and is keen
to reform and set right the anomalies which have crept into its
management which has lead to budgetary deficits and the consequent
dearth of resources for developmental programmes. He has taken steps
on three fronts i.e. generating and augmenting resources of the State,
saving precious resources for important developmental programmes and
the Government of India on 9th January, 2003 to talk to NRIs and cutting down administrative expenditure, so that money is available for
particularly NRGs in order to associate them with the developmental development.
process of Gujarat and bring in inputs in terms of technology, know-how
• He has identified areas where user charges have not been revised for
and resources. This interaction meet was organised under the auspices of
decades. Here, he feels that in order to make various public utility
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with
organisations run efficiently, it is necessary to allow them to manage their
NRIs/PIOs/NRGs on 11th January, 2003 at New Delhi. Extensive
discussions took place during this interaction meet which wil fructify into affairs professionally and give them the freedom to levy and collect
long term mutually beneficial linkages in various sectors. appropriate user charges. Recently, in one stroke, a long pending issue of
revision of passenger tariff in the Gujarat State Road Transport
• As an extention of this strategy, two interaction sessions - one each at Corporation, which is the monopoly service of the State for carrying
Mumbai and New Delhi - were organised for the Chief Minister to meet passengers was resolved. Now this Corporation has been allowed to
with investors and industrialists. These programmes resulted in the suitably increase the tariff and further to link the same with hike in the
orientation of the investors and industrialists towards Gujarat. diesel prices in the market.
 • Another organisation the Gujarat Electricity
Board (GEB), which generates, transmits and
distributes electricity to most domestic,
commercial, agricultural and industrial users
of the State has been crippled because of
subsidies on the electric tariff and
inefficiencies in the working of the
organisation. The Chief Minister is moving
strongly to rectify the anomalies which have
beset this organisation.
• Narendra Modi has a very unique
combination of understanding and
knowledge of grass-root administration,
openness and ability to market the State to
attract investment in the industrial and
infrastructural sectors and the vision to foresee emerging trends in
society and the economy.
• He has maintained that his
eyes are on the emerging
and sun-rise sectors in the
economy like Information
Te c h n o l o g y a n d
Biotechnology. For him,
development and use of
Information Technology
sector is no longer a
fashion, but a necessity.
Combining the tools of information technology in his daily work is his
passion. He feels that e-governance is easy governance, effective
governance.
• He strongly believes that Gujarat, with its strong base in agricultural,
pharmaceutical and marine biology has great potential in the
Biotechnology sector.
• He has begun the planning of a consistent and integrated strategy to
• He has taken steps to promote this sector in the State. In February, he
interacted with high profile experts in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
at New Delhi in an international workshop and invited experts and
investors to Gujarat. He announced formation of a Venture Capital Fund
to help kickstart this area.
• His vision of a developed
Gujarat of 21st Century
combines a robust
infrastructure, world class
institutions, vibrant industry,
a motivated and skilled
workforce and bright and
talented youth. He is working
relentlessly to gain the
cooperation of each and
everyone in this process.
• However, at the same time, it is his conviction that in order to hinder the
growth of the country, the enemies would hit at Gujarat, which is the
engine of growth in the country. He anticipates that terrorist activities
including motivating, training, equipping and executing retaliations and
attacks on soft targets is a constant possibility. This may happen with a
view to:
- create and widen the gap between the majority and the minority
communities.
- curtail and weaken the economic development of Gujarat, which is set
to emerge as an economic and industrial leader.
- neutralise the efforts of the State to bring about the healing touch and
thereby tarnish the image of the State in the national and international
arena.
- to force the minority community to move to coastal and border areas
so that terrorist activities gain ground at those places.
- force the State to employ security forces in large number to counter
these initiatives and cause economic strain. Regular troops sucked
into controlling the situation render the Indian defences imbalanced
strategically.
- activate the sea route to smuggle arms and ammunition in addition to
narcotics and drugs.
- use the Taliban or those elements, which hitherto were employed in
Afganistan as trained manpower for subversive activities and terror
infrastructure.
- use Gujarat as a firm base for spreading violence in other States like
Raj asthan, M . P., and Maharashtra.
- In Sepetember 2002 there was a heinous and organised terrorist
attack on a famous temple at the capital city of Gandhinagar. No
wonder, why security of people finds place in his core programme
i.e. Panchamrit Yojana.
counter terrorism in the State, which broadly comprises of the following:
Identifying and isolating the disruptive forces from the common
population.
Effective action against organised gangs and anti-social elements.
Professionalizing the Police and the security agencies.
Modernising the intelligence and pre-cautionary agencies.
Curbing the activities of anti-national organisations and platforms.
Viewing terrorism as socio-political and economic issue not just a police or
military issue
He realises that in Gujarat the essence of counter terrorist strategy does
not lie in a fragmented, compartmentalised approach. It is not to be seen
as a trans border threat or a law and order problem only. It is in fact a mix
of fundamentalist, narco terrorism sponsored by a hostile neighbour.
Hence, he feels the need of an integrated strategy combining all organs of
the state apparatus, its political leadership and the people.

• He emphasizes that while deciding the growth rate of the country in the
Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007), the Planning Commission of India has
given a growth target of 8% to the entire country and similar targets to
other States of the country, However, the Planning Commission has found
it expedient to fix a growth target of 10.2% for the State of Gujarat, which
is highest for any State of the country. This means that the Government
and Planning Commission of India have realised and assessed the growth
potential which exists in Gujarat. He is intent on achieving this target by
working effectively on various fronts.