The first thing that invited the attention of the Chief Minister after taking the oath of office was about streamlining efficiency in the Civil Secretariat. The tradition in officialdom is to move the files sluggishly. Secretarial functionaries are used to a lackadaisical attitude to the item of file work and moving the files lethargically to the detriment of good governance. The CM spoke on the subject during her first interaction with Administrative Secretaries.
Sometimes back, the administration had devised a system called File Tracking System, which was supposed to keep track of the file from the stage when it was opened right to the last moment showing through what stages and hands it was passing with what remarks and finally what was the decision taken and conveyed. The system was the brain child of the National Informatics Centre. However, for reasons unknown the File Tracking System (FTS) was not introduced and did not work despite the fact that in other states the system worked well and efficiently.
After her meeting with the Administrative Secretaries, the Chief Minister has issued directions to all heads of departments emphasizing the need of keeping track of the files under process. She has stated that while she is committed to the principle of good governance, it was important that the movement of files should be tracked properly by authorities and the fundamental idea of Right to Information is practiced in letter and in spirit. She has asserted that she does not like that ordinary people coming to follow their cases in the Secretariat are put to inconvenience and inordinate delay and subjected to hassles beyond their capacity of tolerance.
Consequently all departmental heads have been asked to cooperate fully in making File Tracking System a success. The CM said that a common complaint among the people with cases stuck up in the Secretariat and rest of the offices was that the files moved at a snail’s pace from table to table for no serious reasons. This had to be looked into and removed. The Chief Minister does not want that responsibility should rest only with the secretarial staff but the Ministers have also to bear their share of responsibility. File Tracking System is a web-based application to monitor the pendency of receipts and files and assist in their easy tracking. It is actually an integrated package which has features right from diarizing of receipts/files, updating its status, opening of new files, tracking the movement of files, dispatch of letters/files and finally records management. The administrative system in the State and the country is one that had been designed by the British rulers of India. They had their own norms of running the administration of the country. Though the system remains in place by and large, notwithstanding numerous modifications that had to be brought in, the essence of administration after independence has changed considerably. The official machinery has to adapt itself to the needs and requirements of the people in general.
We have appreciation for the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for giving clear instructions to the bureaucracy that tracking of the files has to be in place and in scientific manner and very transparent. For a people-oriented Government cooperation and support of the bureaucracy is of vital importance. By issuing a directive to the Administrative Secretaries, the Chief Minister has hit the nail on the head. It is a very sensible move to begin with emphasizing efficiency at Secretarial level as the key to good governance.
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