All ministries and departments in the central government will have to compulsorily dedicate three hours a week towards disposing of pending files, VIP references and grievances and the secretaries concerned will have to review the progress on this front every month, according to the instructions issued by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
In an office memorandum (OM) issued by DARPG on November 30, 2021 the DARPG said the ministries will have to take these actions regularly as a sequel to the month-long campaign – on disposal of pending matters organised between October 2 and October 31, 2021– so that pending matters do not accumulate. News18.com has a copy of the OM.
As reported by News18.com, the pan-government cleanliness drive had led to the freeing up of 12.01 lakh square feet of space – equivalent to nearly 20 football grounds– with the Centre earning revenue worth Rs 62.54 crore by disposing of scrap that surfaced during the exercise.
The instructions in the OM further stated that the arrangements made for the special campaign – a dedicated portal and nodal officers – will continue to remain operational. It stated that this should be followed by all outstation offices of ministries, departments as well as autonomous organisations and attached offices.
In a communication to all secretaries in the central government on January 4, accessed by News18.com, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba said their personal attention is needed to ensure the implementation of the latest instructions by DARPG.
Appreciating the success of the special drive in October last year, Gauba said that DARPG has been requested to organize meetings to review the progress of this work periodically.
A senior government official told News18.com that multiple ministries have already issued instructions to officials and staff asking them to monitor progress on disposal of pending references, files, grievances and parliamentary assurances and other achievements every month and report them by the last working day of every month.
“The brief month-long campaign led to quick disposal of several files and pending grievances and references from MPs and state government. It also freed up space and earned crores through scrap disposal, but it can’t be a one-time measure, else everyone will be back to where they were,” the official said.
“A long-term intervention is needed to ensure minimum accumulation of pending matters and a sequel to the campaign with monthly monitoring of progress is a move towards this direction,” the official added.
As reported by News18.com last month, some of the ideas being considered by the Centre for faster disposal of grievances and other pending references from states and MPs, include providing incentives to ministries which are proactive in generating wealth from waste and scrap removal, training government staff in record management and delegating more powers to government officials down the chain. The ideas had emerged after the DARPG carried out an assessment of the cleanliness drive carried out in October last year.
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Source: News18