“Their Inefficiency Would be Exposed”: Modi's Former Coal Secretary Anil Swarup Reveals Why PMO Doesn't Digitize Its Files

DESPITE INDIA'S YEARS-LONG PUSH for the “Digital India” initiative, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has still not fully digitized its files, relying instead on paper records — and according to former Coal Secretary Anil Swarup, this isn't by accident. In a recent podcast conversation, the former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who worked closely with the government during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's early years in office, offered a rare explanation for why. 

Swarup talked about the real reason why Modi and his office chose not to digitize its official files and other documents. His answer: their inefficiency would be exposed.

In a conversation with Richa Jain Kallra, podcast host and founder of WONE Social, a digital media platform, the senior ex-IAS officer talked about the changes he has noticed in Modi after he became India’s Prime Minister in 2014, and why doesn't his office digitize their files despite the nation-wide emphasis on the “Digital India” initiative.

Why Doesn't PMO Digitize its Files: According to Retired IAS Officer Anil Swarup

India's government has spent years promoting “Digital India” — a mission to move paperwork online and make governance faster and more transparent. But here's an odd fact: the Prime Minister's Office itself, the most powerful office in the country, still relies heavily on paper files instead of digital records.

See also: PM Modi’s Foreign Trips to 77 Countries Since 2021 Costed Around Rs 555.7 Crore, Govt Tells Rajya Sabha

Anil Swarup had previously served as India's Coal Secretary and also worked in the Education Ministry. In his conversation with host Richa Jain Kallra, Swarup shared his views on why this might be happening — and his answer was straightforward: digitizing files would expose inefficiency.

Swarup's main point is simple. When files are on paper, it's easy for delays to go unnoticed. Nobody can easily track how long a file has been sitting on someone's desk, who is responsible for holding it up, or why a decision hasn't been made.

If files were digital, however, every step would leave a trail. One can see exactly when a file arrived, who reviewed it, how long they took, and where the delay is happening. Swarup believes this kind of visibility would make it much harder to hide inefficiency or corruption.

He suggests that all files, except those related to national security or personal matters, could be digitized. Doing so, he argues, would significantly cut down on delays and corruption across the system.

Swarup points to an incident involving Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who once publicly pointed out that some files were pending in the PMO. This apparently caused quite a stir — an example, in Swarup's view, of how paper-based systems can let problems pile up quietly until someone calls them out.

What Changed in Modi's Governance Style Over Time?

Beyond the digitization issue, Swarup also spoke about a broader shift he noticed in Prime Minister Modi's leadership style after he came to power in 2014. According to Swarup, Modi was initially very open to criticism. In his initial years in the office, the Prime Minister would invite officials for tea roughly every three months specifically to hear complaints and criticism about how the government was functioning. He would listen, respond, and then have tea with everyone afterward — a practice Swarup remembers fondly.

See also: "Attack on Democracy": Parliamentary Panel Gives Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg 3-Day Ultimatum to Apologise Over PM Modi Video Removal Row, Threatens to Withdraw Safe Harbour Clause

Swarup believes something changed after the 2016 demonetization decision. He noticed that officials became increasingly hesitant to speak up or point out mistakes, even factual ones. 

Sharing an anecdote, Swarup recalled how a Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister once mentioned that Modi sometimes stated facts incorrectly. But the response within the PMO was that Modi was “too experienced” to be called out. Swarup disagreed strongly with this attitude, arguing that pointing out errors is a duty, not an insult — something he says he learned from his time working with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, who welcomed such kind of honest feedback and criticism.

Swarup suggests that officials who did offer criticism sometimes "paid a price" — for example, being transferred or sidelined. This, he says, sent a signal to everyone else in the system to either stay quiet or to face consequences. Over time, this discouraged honest feedback, which he believes ultimately hurts the Prime Minister by cutting him off from the truth and honest criticism about how his administration is truly functioning.

Swarup describes feeling that the leader he admired in Modi's first two years, someone he once believed to be “an amazing person and leader,” is not the same today. In his words, “we lost him [Modi] somewhere.”

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

Suggested reading: