Piyush Goyal — Up, Close, and Almost Personal

I have been writing about the transformation on power sector, which the Hon’ble Minister of State with independent charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy has been working on after he assumed office in May 2014. The various articles on this topic (and others) can be found on the Swarajya website.

Mr. Goyal has been doing exceptional, unprecedented work at a breakneck speed, and so when he was slotted to speak in Pune for a Pune International Centre program, I registered for the talk early on.

Additionally, I had some ideas which I aspired to share with the Minister. This required an audience with him in Pune, so I reached out to his office in Delhi. The responses were rapid but there were no available meeting slots. But I was told I can potentially meet him between various functions and was asked to come to the venue of his morning program — a speech at a trade convention. Rapid exchanging of contact details and local liaison happened, and I landed at the stated venue on the morning of April 9th.

I was waiting at the designated place for the previous program to get over. As soon as the Minister came out, there was a clamour. For his glimpse, a handshake here and a selfie there. There were people jostling for space and buzzing mobile cameras. Some wanted the Minister to pose with their kids and a boy who looked like 5 years old got pictures clicked. The event security and his staff looked hassled but the Minister obliged everyone.

His staff introduced me to him briefly but then another round of people who looked like political party workers and local leaders, made their way with their demands. So his staff asked me to accompany them to the next venue, the Pune International Centre (PIC) event which was three fourths of an hour later. After a few minutes, I was in an official entourage car with Mr. Goyal’s staff — no frisking, no background check questions, and full trust in play!

The entourage had just a few cars including the security detail. I was in the last car and the convoy moved at a leisurely pace in bustling Saturday Pune traffic. I initially thought there will be lal batti installed cars and pilots which will clear the roads. But that was not to be. The convoy inched through old Pune and stopped at every traffic signal. One of the signals took us 15 minutes to cross. The minister’s car indeed had a lal batti but it wasn’t used. Some of the curious onlookers identified the minister in the car and some waved. A distance of 9 kms took us a good 50 minutes to cover.

At the PIC venue, I got a couple of other opportunities to talk to the Minister briefly. He mentioned he had read my articles, but the talk never got to the subject I intended to discuss. Meanwhile the stream of visitors kept growing — local city officials, police officials, businessmen, journalists, start up entrepreneurs who wanted to make a petition, a retired NTPC employee who wanted an audience, an old friend — I was with the staff of Mr. Goyal and hence could get a peek into these myriad of visitors requesting his time and attention!

Mr. Goyal made a rousing speech — no notes, no aids, but an hour full of facts, figures and India’s philosophy on energy security, renewable energy and the work done by his ministry in the last two years. The video should be up on the PIC website in a few days and will make for a great viewing.

After his speech, the Minister came out to the waiting dozens with their cases and demands. He spoke to a few, asked a few to meet him later, some were diverted to his staff, some rode with him in the elevator for a literal elevator pitch, and a handful rued they missed their chance. By now his staff was exasperated as the Minister had another event to go to 20 kms away, and I realized I won’t get my 10 minute dedicated window, so I decided to try my luck some other time.

Since I spent almost a couple of hours with the Minister’s staff during the day, I asked them if his schedules were always like this. And I heard some fascinating stories. Apparently this is how a typical day for Mr. Goyal is — filled with people with all kinds of requests, some genuine, some adulatory, and some which really don’t need escalation to his level. He does not use lal batti while traveling, and does not demand clear roads.

One of the previous Union Ministers for Power apparently had a Z+ security, expected completely clear roads, used to have an ambulance too in the convoy at all times, and used to call up the concerned State government officials if there were any lapses. His staff used to be rude to local police and expected the proverbial VVIP treatment at all times. His car used to have specific labels of bottled water and eats like dry fruits at all times. All of this arrangement was typically made by the local offices of one of the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in the ministry in the city or region where the Minister was traveling. A host of CPSE officials used to be in attendance to coordinate with local police and local administration.

Mr. Goyal travels barebones with a skeletal staff and no frills. Everything is minimalist, including the time requirements from the local CPSE officials. In fact, they are discouraged from leaving work and making attempts to meet him. The car I was traveling in was a hired one, had one bottle of water, and nothing to eat. The Minister probably missed the lunch for the day — the two functions that I traversed through lasted from 10.30 AM to 3.45 PM. You wouldn’t make that out listening to his PIC speech. His staff didn’t eat either. They weren’t complaining. It was apparently business as usual for them.

From the previous entitlements raj, this seems like the other extreme in terms of how this central government is working.

As for my idea, maybe I will get another ride in a Union Power ministry convoy some other day moving at a snail’s pace so that I explain it to the Minister in detail. For now, he is already doing enough and more and I am glad to wait!

Mr. Goyal is a true rock star minister. I suspected that earlier too — now I know first hand.