WB report on ranking: PM seeks report from officers in a month

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked top secretaries to analyse areas that needed more reforms and report within a month after the latest World Bank report almost maintained a status quo on India’s ease of doing business.

 He also asked the Cabinet secretary to review the overall performance of the Centre and states in this regard. The latest report upgraded India just a notch above to 131 from last year among 190 countries.

 “The prime minister asked all chief secretaries and all secretaries of the Government of India to study the report, and analyse the potential areas where there is scope for improvement in their respective departments and states. He asked for a report from all concerned in this regard, within a month, and asked the Cabinet secretary to review the same thereafter,” sources in Prime Minister’s Office said.

 Modi aims to push the country in top 50 ranking in terms of ease of doing business in coming years.

 Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she was disappointment over the ranking.

 “I am a bit disappointed. Not only the government of India, but every state is so actively engaged and wants to ease the situation... But for whatever reason, it has not been adequately captured in the ranking,” she said. She, however, said that Centre and states will work with renewed focus and speed to improve the ranking further.

 On the target fixed by the prime minister to get within the 50th spot, she maintained that this goal is intact.

About steps to be taken in future to improve the ranking, the minister said the government has taken the right route in reforming and making ease of doing business a very important agenda for the Centre and states.

 “Now, it is important for us to interact with states even more to quickly identify many such things which are important so that its impact is visible at the ground level,” Sitharaman said.