Empowered Group of Secretaries to monitor implementation of PM Gati Shakti NMP

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had, in his Independence Day speech this year, announced the ‘PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan’.

The Government of India has constituted a 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries to monitor the development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP)..

The plan comprises a Rs 100 lakh-crore project for the development of ‘holistic infrastructure’ that would allow India to raise the global profile of its local manufacturers and help them compete with their counterparts across the world.

Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS)

According to the central government, the 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries will oversee the construction of roads, railways, etc. in addition to all utility services while undertaking an area-based approach to the development of infrastructure on a pilot basis.

This Empowered Group will act as a monitoring mechanism for the development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

With the Cabinet Secretary its chairperson, the Empowered Group will include the chairman of the Railway Board and secretaries from various ministries, including Road, Transport & Highways, Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Civil Aviation, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Power, Telecommunications, Coal, Mines, Chemicals & Petro-Chemicals, Fertilizers, Steel, Expenditure, Food and Public Distribution, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Tourism and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

As part of the government’s roadmap, the Empowered Group will also have the freedom to co-opt any other secretary or secretaries from other departments as per its requirements.

The head of the Logistics division in the Department of Commerce will serve as the convener of the Empowered Group in addition to being a member. The Logistics division will also act as the Secretariat to the Empowered Group of Secretaries for its Terms of Reference (ToRs).

Terms of reference for EGoS

The central government has also laid down terms of reference for the Empowered Group:

• Review and monitor implementation of the National Master Plan to ascertain the logistics efficiency accruing thereof.
• Adopt a framework and norms for undertaking any amendments to the National Master Plan.
• Coordinate any changes to the projects already included in the National Master Plan, within the prescribed framework and norms.
• Set out a procedure and a definitive timeframe for synchronisation of various activities for construction of roads, railways, etc. along with all utility services in an area-based approach for the development of infrastructure on a pilot basis.
• Align various development initiatives on a common integrated portal that serves the needs of all stakeholders.
• Issue appropriate directions for achieving the listed objectives and ensure compliance with the guiding principles of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
• Address demand-side requirements of ministries concerned.
• Look at interventions required to meet the demand side, in efficiently transporting bulk goods based on the requirements of various ministries, like Steel, Coal, and Fertilizer etc.