The 2019 Lok Sabha results will be announced only on May 23, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi, confident that he will return, has already asked the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Niti Aayog and the Principal Scientific Adviser to prepare the agenda for the first 100 days of the next government, with a focus on double-digit GDP growth in the next five years.
According to three top officials in the Modi government, in the midst of hectic election campaigning, the PM has tasked his office, Vice Chairman Niti Aayog and Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) Prof K Vijayraghavan to chalk out an agenda on the scale of Swacch Bharat with sweeping economic and bureaucratic reforms.
“The focus is on freeing the key sectors — oil and gas, minerals, infrastructure and education — of red tape so that the foundation for India becoming a developed country in 2047 is laid in the coming 100 days. We believe that by removing red tape in core sectors we can easily boost the GDP growth by 2.5%,” said one of the three officials who asked not to be named.