Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 26: Acting tough on the tour of bureaucrats outside Jammu and Kashmir, the State Government today directed all Administrative Secretaries to submit detailed tour reports on their return to the headquarters after visiting outside to the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.
An official order to this effect was issued today by Chief Secretary BR Sharma.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti would be monitoring progress report of all the Administrative Secretaries including outcome of the meetings attended by them outside the State, decisions taken in the meetings and follow-up action required.
“It was in this context that all the Administrative Secretaries have been issued fresh set of guidelines and instructions by the Chief Secretary on the directions of the Chief Minister,” they said, adding the order was meant to ensure that no Administrative Secretary visits outside the State without any official meeting or leave.
As per the Chief Secretary’s order, the Administrative Secretaries after attending the official meetings outside the State, would have to prepare a detailed note in which they were required to mention in detail the purpose of the meeting and main issues discussed there, details of previous meeting(s) held on the issue, outcome of the meeting and decisions taken there in.
“The follow-up action required for the meetings, the Minister or the bureaucrat and the Department, which had called the meeting in New Delhi or any other State, date and venue, where the meeting was held and all other related issues including the discussions and the decisions taken would be part of the tour note that the Administrative Secretaries now had to submit to the Chief Secretary as well as the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister,” sources said.
They added that the Chief Minister would go through the notes submitted by the Administrative Secretaries and pass on further directions to them, if required, for follow-up action on the meetings etc.
Sources said the decision was aimed at ensuring discipline among the bureaucrats and ensure that they stick to the meetings only outside the State as they would have to mention date and venue of the meeting and the Minister or the Central bureaucrat, who had called the meeting.
Though the bureaucrats had to submit the tour notes after their meetings outside the State earlier also, the fresh order has made the instructions very clear, which would lead to more discipline and help the Government get more details of what transpired in the meetings even without calling the bureaucrats for briefing to the Chief Minister as they would have to explain each and every thing in the tour notes, sources said.
The bureaucrats would have to submit the tour notes the same day they return to the State after attending the meeting(s) outside.
According to sources, though the Administrative Secretaries had been conveyed the instructions on submitting details of their official tours and meetings outside the State, some of them had been submitting half of the information.
However, the fresh order issued today by the Chief Secretary on the instructions of the Chief Minister would make it mandatory for the bureaucrats to submit each and every detail of the meeting as mentioned in the official order issued today.
“This will go a long way in helping the Government to maintain discipline in the Civil Secretariat as well as keep abreast with all the meetings the bureaucrats were attending outside the State,” sources said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has directed that attendance of the employees will be checked and reported to their controlling officers on daily/weekly basis.
The direction has been passed through an order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD).
“This should be done without any consideration of their being related or affiliated with the persons holding high public offices/Constitutional or any other influential position. Besides, no special treatment should be given to such persons for availing the benefits and accessing various services available to the citizens under the laid down framework,’’ the order said.
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