Over the past fortnight, two senior bureaucrats, recently empanelled as secretaries to the government of India, were surprised when they got a call from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). They were asked about their areas of interest and the departments they might be interested in handling as and when an opening comes up. The phone calls are part of a larger informal human resources competency mapping exercise being driven by the PMO to identify the best officials suited for vacancies that have arisen and would arise in the central government in the coming six months. The idea behind the initiative steered by additional principal secretary in the PMO PK Mishra, is to get the right men for the right job to implement the Modi government's agenda over the next three to five years, said officials.

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