Who is India’s most powerful bureaucrat?

(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today edition dated November 11, 2024)
It has long been recognised that while iconic figures stride across the political field talking of big change, it is the bureaucracy whose work endures. They bring order to change, navigating the nitty-gritty and authoring the fine print—often also the main text of policy. We take an expansive view of officialdom, choosing 10 individuals who form the backbone of India’s governance structure, holding roles that impact every facet of the nation’s functioning, from security to financial stability to justice delivery. For instance, P.K. Mishra, as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, orchestrates policy across ministries. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval handles everything from geostrategy to defence to counterterrorism. Shaktikanta Das, as RBI Governor, ensures India’s financial stability. Our radar registers both the Chief Justice of India, the keeper of the Constitution, as well as the heads of the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, whose mandate is equally vital but can also often be the subject matter of judicial questioning. In a sense, these 10 people in high office demonstrate the distributed responsibilities and differing imperatives the task of running a complex country like India summons up. These officials sometimes act as executors, at other times as the conscience-keepers, or often as the brains trust of the political class. Both a B.V.R. Subrahmanyam and an Arvind Panagariya may note something on the margins of a file that may affect distant futures in different realms. The influence they wield is unique, in that they embody power but also the accountability needed to preserve India’s constitutional and democratic integrity. And in uncredited ways, the imagination needed to fuel it.
1. P.K. MISHRA, 76, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
THE QUIET IMPLEMENTER
Because as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most trusted bureaucrat, he is the silently ticking clockwork that moves the needles of a whole era in governance. A man of few words and impeccable integrity, he sits at the very apex of India’s steel frame; the cues coming from his chambers become commandments for the country’s executive. That does not cast him in Olympian remoteness from actual work: his eye for detail and 24×7 availability make him indispensable to the establishment, minimising errata in policy papers and cabinet notes, accelerating PMO decision-making
Because all files for the Appointments Committee of Cabinet pass through his desk, all lists for bureaucratic/ diplomatic postings get final touches from his blue pencil before they reach the PM. He has introduced the 360-degree assessment system to free appointments from lobbying and undue influence
Techno maven: An avid reader, he is presently poring over Marek Kowalkiewicz’s The Economy of Algorithms
2. AJIT DOVAL, 79, National Security Advisor
IRON SHIELD OF INDIA
Because call him what you will—spymaster, security doctrinaire or invisible power—his omnipresence in the crafting of an iron shield for India is nowhere restricted to its borders or just across, as it used to be during his days of Bond-like derring-do in the IB. His geopolitical footprint now has a transnational span. How many people can be within whispering distance of mutually antagonistic, po-faced Cold Warriors like Vladimir Putin and Jake Sullivan? Or be equally welcome in Tehran as well as Tel Aviv?
Because months short of 80, he has entered an unprecedented third term in his career as National Security Advisor—which has been coterminous with the Modi regime’s tenure. That makes him the longest-serving NSA in independent India, with his ever-more powerful secretariat operating directly under the PMO. As the PM’s most trusted aide on security and strategic affairs, his global powwows are an integral component of the Modi Way
Because his quiet diplomacy secured the release of eight former Indian Navy personnel from Qatar in February, a major diplomatic win in a crisis
Prayers for a boon: A deeply religious person, he makes a regular pilgrimage to the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain
3. SHAKTIKANTA DAS, 67, Governor, Reserve Bank of India
THE TOP CENTRAL BANKER
Because of how he has balanced growth goals with interest rate prudency and deft rupee management, reattaining currency stability through spot and forward market interventions. All that in the face of global tumult, marked by a debilitating pandemic and two wars
Because his quiet hand has had a calming effect, reversing an environment marked by erosion of confidence—not least due to his grim but deft battle to tamp down inflation. That firm grip on the repo rate may deflate growth steroid addicts, especially when the US Fed et al have loosened up, but he has all bases covered. “We will not miss the party. We will wait and watch and join the party when the inflation figure is durably aligned,” he says, sagely. With September figures riding to 5.49 per cent, an abrupt spurt from August’s 3.65 per cent, we can see why India needs his conservatism more than cavalier tailspinners
Because he has kept up a tight vigil on banks, preventing risk escalation in the financial system, controlling unbridled growth in consumer loans and instituting board-monitored processes to curtail adventurism
Mr Polyglot: Bhubaneswar-born but an IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, Das is also conversant in Tamil, besides mother tongue Odia, Hindi and English
4. DHANANJAYA YESHWANT CHANDRACHUD, 64, Chief Justice of India
JUDGE SUPERIOR
Because few before him have attained his level of acclaim, even adulation, as the highest sentinel of the Constitution. His stint came in a phase of India’s history when its First Principles saw unusual levels of polemical challenge. He mostly comported himself with dignity, resolve, precise articulation
Because his signature verdicts on electoral bonds, the remit of Governors, rules on bail, ‘bulldozer justice’ et al set standards for constitutionality and liberal rights that even he may not have always met. His ruling on same-sex marriage, though stopped well short of being a landmark
Because he has pushed innovation. Was part of the bench that ruled in favour of live-streaming of Supreme Court proceedings in 2018, and he was in his CJI’s chair when the first hearing—on NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test— went live in 2024
Special bond: The CJI and his wife Kalpana Das have two specially-abled daughters, who they had adopted in 2015
5. T.V. SOMANATHAN, 59, Cabinet Secretary of India
FIRST AMONG EQUALS
Because the erudite and industrious former finance secretary, now India’s topmost serving bureaucrat, has been sent out to bat as a sheet anchor for Modi 3.0—one who can simultaneously keep an eye on the reforms run-rate as well as ensure that no wickets fall with flagship social sector schemes. He’s quite in sync with the PMO’s unique rhythms, having served there as additional and joint secretary and built a name for himself for being one of Modi’s few trusted lieutenants
Because he plays a pivotal role in overseeing Mission Karmayogi, the massive human resource capacity-building programme presently under way to upgrade the competencies of public servants
First in class: In 1996, he had joined the World Bank through the prestigious Young Professionals Program
6. RAHUL NAVIN, 57, Director, Enforcement Directorate
THE GO-TO ENFORCER
Because if two conjoined letters—‘ED’—can set off a temblor of fear in the corrupt and also invoke a whole passage of troubled waters in Indian political history, you need a captain skilled enough to man the gunboat. As head of one of India’s most critical economic crime-busting agencies, he’s seen as the regime’s go-to enforcer, almost a sword-arm, adept at bringing errant Opposition leaders and business figures into smarmy compliance. His tenure began with the headline-making arrests of two chief ministers, Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren. But he was no pinch-hitter. As special director since 2019, he’s had plenty ball practice. Over the last six years, the ED has investigated 132 cases involving politicians. In the crosshairs were figures like Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav, and Abhishek Banerjee. That’s something to tell the grandkids, and perchance a chance for the author of an 808-page doorstopper (Information Exchange and Tax Transparency: Tackling Global Tax Evasion and Avoidance, 2016) to pen a page-turner or two this time
Because he played a key role in steering India’s mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog on money-laundering
What if?: The Bihar native—an IIT-Kanpur grad, MBA from Swinburne and 1993-batch IRS officer—comes from a family of musicians. Bollywood composers Anand-Milind are relatives
7. PRAVEEN SOOD, 60, Director, Central Bureau of Investigation
THE PROBING EYE
Because he has got more than a walk-on part in the script that governs contemporary India. As the bossman of our crack investigation agency, he’s in a position to steer the outcome of cases that could reshape the country’s political narrative and affect its social atmosphere: the Kolkata RG Kar rape-and-murder case, the NEET paper leak and the Delhi liquor scam, to name just a few. Coming into the chair in May 2023, beginning a particularly fraught year, the ex-Karnataka DGP caught a time when the CBI’s political edge was getting keener (Arvind Kejriwal: check; Hemant Soren: check; D.K. Shivakumar: check)
Because his sharp internal administration and proactive helmsmanship have kept the agency shipshape—and the urgent call for “a CBI probe” is still heard from all dimly-lit crime scenes in India that need the last word to be spoken
Field job: An IIT Delhi grad and avid golfer, he’s known for being hands-on. When he was teed off to the big chair in CBI—he was Karnataka DGP, heading a state cadre he joined in 1986—he visited all the 58 offices of the agency first up
8. B.V.R. SUBRAHMANYAM, 62, EO, NITI Aayog
VISION MAKER
Because he’s taken on tasks that would daunt the ordinary. Like running the national asset monetisation programme—for brownfield core infrastructure assets in 10 sectors, including roads and power—with a four-year target of Rs 6 lakh crore by FY25
Because he leads the powerful climate change group of experts to create a green map for India that will enable it to achieve its net zero emissions target by 2070
Because he has been tasked with setting up a frontier tech hub to chalk out a pathway for India to become a global leader in AI
Because he has set up a programme to work out how India could become an integral part of the global value chain
Because he is working with 12 chief ministers to come out with vision documents for their states
Because he is the go-to person for unclogging FDI issues involving partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the UK
Because he is the point man for preparing and driving the PM’s vision for Viksit Bharat@2047
Devout at duty: He has the rare distinction of having worked with both the Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi PMOs; starts his day with puja
9. GENERAL ANIL CHAUHAN, 63, Chief of Defence Staff
THE FORCE UNIFIER
Because India’s highest military rank grants him significant authority over strategy and defence policy—besides, of course, the three services. The government had amended rules to allow him to be brought out of retirement for this role—that’s the level of trust in the “quiet, polite” officer from Uttarakhand. Gen. Chauhan has repaid it, succeeding where others struggled in uniting the army, navy and air force under a single integrated command—a task once seen as challenging. Indeed, as he said recently, we have “moved beyond jointness” and towards actual synergy
Because he has been engaged in attempts to course-correct on the Agniveer scheme—it was implemented days before he took over on September 30, 2022, and had faced a significant backlash across states
In action: He was Director-General of Military Operations in 2019 during the Balakot airstrike, and briefly served as military advisor to NSA and fellow Garhwali Ajit Doval after retirement—before duty beckoned again
10. ARVIND PANAGARIYA, 72, Chairman, Finance Commission
THE WEALTH DISTRIBUTOR
Because the economics savant steers the 16th Finance Commission at a delicate time in Centre-state relations, with ballooning public debt and soiled balance-sheets all around India’s federal polity. The Columbia don, free trade evangelist and policy influencer with a resume that serves up a formidable alphabet soup—IMF, WTO, UNCTAD, ADB, USISPF, ICRIER et al—had an early brush with the Modi dispensation as the first vice-chair of NITI Aayog in 2015-17. That petered out in a blur, but didn’t deter him from taking on a historic onus
Because Modi once called his contributions “miraculous”. He has to live up to that expectation now, devising a new formula for devolution of funds to states at a time of growing alienation among the more developed ones, balancing their aspirations—chief ministers are queuing up for his benevolence—with the Centre’s mandate to push for reforms in financial reporting
Roots: An Oswal Jain, he was born to a noted Hindi author-journalist from Rajasthan. His surname derives from his native village Panagarh
—M.G. Arun, Kaushik Deka, Anilesh S. Mahajan & Pradip R. Sagar
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