New Delhi: Gandhi Jayanti is starting from 2nd October. Narendra Modi The government will conduct a month-long special drive aimed at disposal of pending public grievances, references from MPs and states, and pending inter-ministerial consultations and parliamentary assurances.
According to the letter written by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba to all the secretaries of the ministries and departments, the campaign will be carried out till October 2-3. Gauba’s letter, accessed by News18.com, states that instructions to this effect have been received from the PM.
“As you are well aware, timely and effective disposal of public grievances, references to Members of Parliament and State Governments, inter-ministerial consultations, parliamentary assurances etc. form an important part of the work of Ministries/Departments (sic),” Gauba wrote. , adding that these issues sometimes do not get the “desired attention”.
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) will be the nodal ministry responsible for not only monitoring the implementation of this campaign, but also charged with developing a dedicated dashboard for the purpose and issuing guidelines to the ministries.
DARPG under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is the nodal agency of the Central Government for bringing about administrative reforms and redressal of public grievances relating to Central Government Agencies and States.
Stating that the personal attention and leadership of the secretaries would be critical for the success of the campaign and they would have to monitor its progress every day, Gauba’s letter said that each ministry and department would have to appoint a nodal officer for the campaign. .
Ministries will have to send a weekly progress report to DARPG, which will prepare a draft of a consolidated progress report.
Most of the ministries have already appointed their nodal officers for the implementation of the campaign. News18.com spoke to three different ministries who said work was already underway to identify pending complaints, assurances and references.
What is the reason for pending complaints, VIP references?
A senior government official told News18.com that faster disposal of public grievances, VIP references as well as parliamentary assurances would help in better governance and improve the delivery mechanism of the government.
“Public grievances pending in one department may result in duplication of registered complaints and some complaints related to other departments,” the official said, adding that targeted attention would expedite their disposal.
The official further said that depending on the size of a department, there may be 50 or more VIP references pending with a department at a given point of time. “Most references to MPs pertain to transfer postings of officers and other administrative decisions, such as opening a school, etc., in their constituencies. Since there are dedicated policies on these, it takes time to accommodate these references or requests in the existing framework,” the official said.
Another government official pointed out that, at times, assurances are given to Parliament in respect of some starred questions. “There can be many reasons why multiple assurances may accumulate. For example, in some cases the matter is pending; In others, the data sought is with other agencies,” the official said.
The official said that many ministries keep redressal of complaints from time to time and as a result, there are not many pendencies.
How will the campaign go?
Before the launch of the special drive, all ministries will conduct a drive from September 13-29 to identify pending references from MPs, parliamentary assurances and references received from states. As part of this campaign, they will also have to identify pending public grievances, representations and references received as part of various inter-ministerial consultations.
In his letter, Gauba asked all ministries to take steps to settle the pending references identified in a “meaningful manner”.
He said that during such settlement, the ministries and departments should review the existing procedures to reduce the compliance burden and see that unnecessary paperwork is eliminated.
“In this regard, it may be recalled that during his Independence Day address this year, the Prime Minister has emphasized the need to review the rules and procedures on an ongoing basis (sic),” Gauba’s letter said. has gone.
The letter also highlighted that instructions have been issued time and again to maintain cleanliness in government offices, to maintain good working environment, to improve review of records management and to remove papers.
“During this special drive, files of temporary nature may be identified and removed as per extant instructions,” it said, adding that the departments may also review the record retention program to ensure That government files are neither destroyed prematurely nor kept for long. more than necessary.
The letter further said that for greater cleanliness in the ministries, scrap materials and obsolete items should be discarded, most of which are kept in old government buildings.
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