In the Indian idiom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a Karmayogi, action anchored in duty, measured by difference on the ground.
Fullsome praise has been showered on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charismatic presence and organisational leadership. Less understood and known is the rigorous professionalism which characterises his work. A relentlessly professional work ethic has evolved over the past two and a half decades as Chief Minister of Gujarat and Prime Minister of India.
What sets him apart is not a talent for spectacle but a discipline that turns vision into durable systems. In the Indian idiom, he is a Karmayogi: action anchored in duty, measured by difference on the ground.
That ethic framed his Independence Day address from the Red Fort, this year. The speech offered less a ledger of achievements than a charter for shared work: citizens, scientists, start‑ups and states invited to co‑author Viksit Bharat. Ambitions in deep technology, clean growth and resilient supply chains were set out as practical programmes, not rhetorical flourish, with Jan Bhagidari, the partnership between a platform‑building state and an enterprising people, as the method.
The recent simplification of the GST structure reflects this method. By paring down slabs and ironing out friction points, the Council has lowered compliance costs for small firms and quickened pass‑through to households. The Prime Minister’s focus was not on abstract revenue curves but on whether the average citizen or small trader would feel the change quickly. This instinct echoes the cooperative federalism that has guided the GST Council: states and the Centre debating rigorously, but all working within a system that adapts to conditions rather than remaining frozen. Policy is treated as a living instrument, tuned to the economy’s rhythm rather than a monument preserved for symmetry on paper.
It is that professionalism that explains his arrival without notice at the gate of the then under construction New Parliament building after a 15 hours overseas journey late at night from the US.
I recently requested a fifteen minute time slot with the Prime Minister and, I was struck by the cross-sectional depth and multi-dimensional range he brought to the discussion—micro details and macro linkages held together in a single frame. It turned into a forty-five minute meeting. Colleagues later told me he had spent more than two hours preparing, reading through notes, data and counter‑arguments. That level of homework is not the exception; it is the working norm he sets for himself and expects of the system. It is this habit of relentless preparation that ensures decisions are both well‑grounded and future proof.
Much of India’s recent progress rests on plumbing and systems which are designed to ensure dignity to our citizens. The triad of digital identity, universal bank accounts and real-time payments has turned inclusion into infrastructure. Benefits move directly to verified citizens; leakages shrink by design; small businesses enjoy predictable cash flow; and policy is tuned by data rather than anecdote. Antyodaya—the rise of the last citizen - thus becomes a standard, not a slogan – and remains the true litmus test of every scheme, programme and file that makes it to the Prime Minister’s Office.
I had the privilege to witness this once again at Numaligarh in Assam, during the launch of India’s first bamboo‑based 2G ethanol plant. Standing with engineers, farmers and technical experts, the Prime Minister’s queries went straight to the hinge points: how will farmer payments be credited the same day; can genetic engineering create bamboo that grows faster and increase the length of bamboo stem between nodes; can critical enzymes be indigenised; is every component of the bamboo—stalk, leaf, residue—being put to economic use, from ethanol to furfural to green acetic acid? The discussion was not limited to technology. It widened to logistics, the resilience of the supply chain, and the global carbon footprint. As someone who has participated in international negotiations, I recognised the method instantly: clarity of brief, precision in detail and insistence that the last person in the chain must be the first beneficiary.
The same clarity animates India’s economic statecraft. In energy, a diversified supplier basket and calm, firm purchasing have kept our interests secure in volatile times. On more than one occasion abroad, I carried a strikingly simple brief: secure supplies, maintain affordability, and keep Indian consumers at the centre. That clarity was respected, and negotiations moved forward more smoothly as a result.
National security, too, has been approached without theatre. Operations conducted with resolve and restraint—aim clear, operational freedom to the forces, protection of innocents—have emphasised assurance over noise. The ethic is identical: do the hard work, let outcomes speak.
Behind these choices lies a distinctive working style. Discussions are civil but unsparing; competing views are welcomed, drift is not. After hearing the room, he reduces a thick dossier to the essential alternatives, assigns responsibility and names the metric that will decide success. The best argument, not the loudest, prevails; preparation is rewarded; follow‑up is relentless. For colleagues, it is an education in preparation; for the system, it is a culture where delivery is measured and not assumed.
It is no accident that the Prime Minister’s birthday falls on Vishwakarma Jayanti, the day of the divine architect. The parallel is not literal but instructive: in public life, the most enduring monuments are institutions, platforms and standards. For the citizen, performance is a benefit that arrives on time and a price that stays fair; for the enterprise, it is policy clarity and a credible path to expand; for the state, systems that hold under stress and improve with use. That is the measure by which Narendra Modi should be seen; as a karmayogi whose performance is not spectacle but service, shaping the next chapter of the Indian story.
Hardeep S Puri
(The writer is the Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas)