Know the man who is PM Modi’s closest adviser and crisis manager  

Ever knew the man who advises Prime Minister Narendra Modi on how to sail through complicated national affairs and coordinates between ministries? He is the Prime Minister’s principal adviser and crisis manager. Interestingly, he is not a politician but an IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre. Meet Dr. T. V. Somanathan—India’s Cabinet Secretary- the topmost executive official, the senior-most civil servant, and the most influential bureaucrat in this country.

He is virtually the conflicts manager of the Modi Cabinet, who resolves differences among ministries and departments and ensures smooth transaction of government business. He leads coordination during national crises and emergencies. His office also submits monthly reports from all ministries to the President, Vice President, and union ministers.

As a Cabinet Secretary, Somanathan is the head of civil services and ex-officio chairman of the Civil Services Board and thus heads the entire IAS cadre. Somanathan is today sitting at the pinnacle of an IAS career. 

The Cabinet Secretariat is located in South Block near the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and houses three sections—civil, military, and intelligence—with the civil wing being the most important as it supports the Union Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretariat played a major role during the removal of Article 370 and the reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories, coordinating between intelligence agencies and the central government.

Somanathan’s contribution has been immense to the Modi government’s performance, as he was also responsible for spearheading several initiatives when the centre’s earnings were damaged owing to the pandemic, especially between 2020 and 2021, including enforcing expenditure limitations on various ministries and departments across the central government.

Somanathan was also instrumental in the implementation of landmark programs like ‘PM Gareeb Kalyan’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ which was announced during the initial wave of COVID-19.

Somanathan is a highly qualified bureaucrat holding a PhD in economics from Calcutta University and is a qualified chartered accountant, cost accountant, and company secretary. Later he completed an Executive Development Program at Harvard.

His vast and variegated career includes serving as finance secretary, working in the PMO and holding a top position at the World Bank apart from his crucial stints in the Tamil Nadu government.

Despite maintaining a high-tension job profile in his career, Somanathan has authored two books and penned several chapters. He has more than 80 papers and articles published on public policy, finance, and economics in journals and the media under his belt.