Culture

While the Gati Shakti National Plan has ensured the necessary structural requirements are in place, a focus on the cultural aspect is also required.

The success of the plan will require establishing a culture of collaborative working so that the different departments can break their silos and come together to achieve the common goal.

This requires establishing a common vision with common values; establishing an environment of trust, reciprocity and empathy; encouraging more inter-departmental communication and interaction; and having strong leaders at strategic, managerial, and local levels who can nurture the right skills and attitudes amongst their staff or find workarounds for structural issues.

Authority

The interdepartmental groups charged with leading the reform should be given formal authority in the different departments. Developing interdepartmental committees can end up creating new teams and administrative structures that are not well integrated with existing departments.

Without proper authority, the interdepartmental teams might generate ideas but lack the implementation capacity or accountability mechanisms to get things done.

This makes them vulnerable to budget cuts in the face of cost pressures, as they are perceived to be ineffective and a drain on departmental resources.

Training

To make the program a success, the workforce needs to be trained in boundary-spanning qualities. These are those sets of qualities that help employees collaborate across departments seamlessly.

They include the ability to manage the complexity and interdependence involved in working across horizontal and vertical boundaries, managing multiple and potentially conflicting accountabilities, the capacity to see the problem from the perspective of other stakeholders, and good interpersonal communication skills.

This training can be done through different mechanisms like joint training, networking initiatives, and greater staff mobility across departments.

States’ Involvement

India is a sovereign Union of States and the active involvement of states in a National Plan is crucial for its success.

The Economic Survey 2020-21 also highlighted the role of active Centre-State partnerships for infrastructure building. The government has realized the importance of this element of the CATS framework and has taken the first step in this direction recently.

At a recent high-level meeting of the Prime Minister to review the progress of numerous infrastructure projects, he was reported to have advised Chief Secretaries to establish a Gati Shakti Master Plan at the state level.

To conclude, the Gati Shakti National Master Plan is a landmark plan that incorporates data and technology to streamline and fast-track logistics projects across the country.

Integrating the CATS framework in the Master Plan will provide it with the essential agility, balance and strength to help India leap towards achieving the dream of becoming a $20 trillion economy by 2040.

(The Author is an officer of the Indian Railways Accounts Service and presently working with the Northern Railways. The views expressed are personal)

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