Hands-on Chidambaram keeping finance ministry bureaucrats on toes

I am used to coming to work on Saturdays. The only change is I have company today," said a senior ministry official, as he discusses the new finance minister P Chidambaram's style of work.

But the officer is clearly in a minority as several of his colleagues are already complaining as they stare at the prospect of a working weekend with those above joint secretary rank asked to work on Sunday as well. Junior officers are a worried lot as they are dreading the thought of being summoned to office by their bosses on Sunday.

For almost everyone in the finance ministry, the working hours have just got longer since Chidambaram took charge on Wednesday. Besides, they know that a file sent to the minister will come back within hours, something that the lawyer-turned-politician has himself told officers. This is in sharp contrast to the last three-and-a-half years, when his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee would hardly ever chase a file.

Several layers have simply been done away with. From a file first going to the private secretary or an officer on special duty to the advisor and then finally landing on the finance minister's desk with several notes and 'Post-Its', now it moves directly to Chidambaram. Even on the day he took charge, the new finance minister, who is doing his third stint in the ministry, cleared files.

Then, there are notes that he calls for and needed to be delivered within a couple of hours — an almost unthinkable task since Chidambaram moved to the home ministry at the other end of North Block.

But paperwork is just one of the challenges. The bigger challenge is how to deal with a hands-on minister with a mastery of details, who, officers themselves admit, is more aware of the issues. Several of them have got a taste of it, with Chidambaram tossing at them questions ranging from how subsidies are disbursed to the most basic tax issues.

"He is quite familiar with the issues. After all, he was dealing with them just three years ago and even after he left the ministry, he was on most GoMs (groups of ministers). Basically, he is trying to get the latest position. Sometimes his curiosity seems designed to test our preparedness," said a senior officer, who has had more than a couple of meetings with him.

Chidambaram has been meeting officers from various departments in groups, starting with those above deputy secretary rank. For instance, he met the expenditure department officers on Thursday and followed it up with their counterparts in economic affairs on a day later. He met the direct and indirect tax wings of the revenue department and called officers in small lots on Saturday too.

There is one more change — meetings begin at their appointed time. So, those who have turned up late have already been pulled up. Given that he himself comes in by 9.30am and goes for only a short lunch break, officers are getting used to the new work schedule.

Although Chidambaram is yet to unveil his agenda to get the economy back on track, the message is already out: he means business, and at a speed several officials are not used to.