When Narendra Modi took charge as India's prime minister in May this year, he chose to keep his Council of Ministers lean. Several ministries were merged and multiple portfolios assigned to a select few. However, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under him - a puzzle for many and known more through its tweets and Facebook posts - is not a small group of people. The office, including 64 in the PM's personal staff, has a strength of 356.

By comparison, Modi's predecessor, Manmohan Singh, ran "a tight ship", says an official. Though the total number of people in Singh's PMO was not immediately available, the former PM's personal staff had only 11 individuals. While Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the PM during the National Democratic Alliance's previous term in the government, had 12 in his personal staff, his predecessor H D Deve Gowda had only two.

A prime minister is entitled to a personal staff according to the need of the time and circumstances. Also, it is important to note that many of the positions clubbed as personal staff in Modi's PMO - personal secretaries, for example - were out of the 'personal' list in earlier governments.

Personal staff handles no regular ministry work and reports only to a minister - in this case, the PM - and, unlike other civil servants, not to the secretary. There is no prescribed eligibility but it is understood that the usual rules on age and experience for a salary band apply to personal staff as well.

Modi's personal staff, as listed by the PMO, has two personal secretaries (PS), a public relations officer (PRO), four officers on special duty (for research & strategy, information technology, appointments & tours and knowledge & innovation), an information officer, three senior principal private secretaries, a principal private secretary, an under secretary, four executive assistants, two section officers, seven private secretaries, three assistants, nine personal assistants, a senior Hindi translator, four staff car drivers, three lower division clerks, a 'daftry' (junior clerk), 16 peons, and a helper.

Business Standard wrote:CORRECTION
In response to this report, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has clarified that the total sanctioned strength of the PMO has been around 525 in the period 2011-14. As against this, the actual strength of the PMO in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 was in the range of 407 to 411. The number has now declined to 385.

Also, against a sanctioned strength of 78, the PM’s personal staff in the period of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh from 1998-2014 consisted of 74 persons. The number in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal staff is 65, the PMO has pointed out.

The Business Standard report, which was based on an RTI reply provided on the PM's website, had wrongly interpreted the current personal staff strength of former prime ministers Singh, Vajpayee and Gowda as their staff strength when they were Prime Minister. According to the PMO statement, the current personal staff strength of the three former PMs is 14, 12 and 2, respectively.

We regret the errors and stand corrected.  

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