A hallmark of the Narendra Modi style of governance is the time and attention he devotes to minutiae. For instance, he insists on personally approving every foreign trip request from his ministers as well as bureaucrats with the rank of additional secretary and above. He has also ordered that proposals for refurbishment of ministerial offices, including repair works, be marked to him for perusal.

The prime minister has micromanaged to this extent. Modi’s predecessors preferred to focus on larger affairs of state rather than get caught up with housekeeping details. The new PM’s watchful eye has had a somewhat salutary effect on government expenditure.

Past practices saw union ministers fly to salubrious climes during the hot Indian summer. Government offices would be headless for days on end as ministers and senior bureaucrats claimed to be on official official business in some part of the world and made sure they got there via London. No one has ever computed how much money was spent on these summer “vacations” but if one tots up airfare, hotel rooms and TA/DA, the annual expenditure on international travel must run into several crores.

Not this year. Modi has made sure ministers and babus alike are grounded this summer. They are in office by 9am and work late into the night, often clocking out at 10pm. A handful of netas were permitted to fly abroad but only for multilateral meetings. Prakash Javdekar was one such lucky one. He flew to Nairobi last week for a UN environment meet.

Every change of guard at the centre also saw huge renovation work in government offices as new ministers stripped their rooms of furniture and furnishings chosen by their predecessors and hired interior designers to give them a whole new look. A minister’s expenditure would run into lakhs of rupees, something that a cash strapped government burdened by a bloated deficit can hardly afford. Remember that explosive report about Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s Planning Commission spending 35 lakhs (3.5 million rupees or US$58,600) to renovate two toilets at Yojana Bhavan?

It is all changed in Modi sarkar. The ministers are having to make do with what their predecessors left behind. Some are lucky because they inherited plush, picture perfect offices from Congress mantris with impeccable taste. They have leather upholstered sofas, shiny mahogany desks and conference tables, expensive carpets and paintings and other trappings that look straight out of an interiors magazine.

But some, like women and child minister Maneka Gandhi, are stuck with grim, depressing rooms. Maneka’s predecessor Krishna Tirath probably couldn’t care less about her official surroundings because she hardly spent time in her office. These unfortunate ones will have to wait until Modi deigns to loosen the purse-strings, if only to spruce up their dingy rooms.

Such thrift is impressive, particularly when seen against the backdrop of past profligacy. A new work culture was long overdue. But some government watchers are beginning to wonder whether the Modi hands-on model can be sustained. They warn that he could end up missing the woods for the trees unless he lets up on details and focuses on the big pictures of governance.

By arrangement with The Statesman/ANN