In order to speed up the decision-making process, the government has now decided to do away with the mandatory presence of the minister concerned at a Cabinet meeting. According to the Cabinet Secretary’s note on November 16, the Cabinet can now clear proposals with the secretary of the department concerned representing the Ministry’s views. Also, any subject once included in the agenda of the Cabinet will not be postponed even if the minister concerned is not present.‘‘Once an item is included in the agenda of the Cabinet Meeting it can only be excluded/postponed with approval of the PM or the Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, where the PM is not the chairman,’’ states the note sent by Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi.The note further states that ‘‘in all cases when the sponsoring minister may not be able to attend the meeting, the sponsoring secretary shall be present in person.’’In other dos and don’ts Chaturvedi has reiterated that the secretary to the department bringing up a matter before the Cabinet should be present in person and not through his or her deputy.’’ Also to stem the ‘‘leakage’’ of news on debates in Cabinet meetings, it has been decided that presence of officials during such meetings would be streamlined. Chaturvedi has stated that when the item about a ministry is about to be taken up for consideration, ‘‘immediately upon completion of the consideration of the item, he or she will retreat from the meeting’’.Chaturvedi has also placed a blanket ban on secretaries sending any officials to stand-in for them unless they are of the rank of special secretaries or additional secretaries, and that too, with prior permission of the Cabinet Secretary. Obviously, the issue of confidentiality is weighing heavy on the Government. ‘‘ All officers required .should be present in the ante-room.and they will be ushered into the meeting when required,” the note states.
