Government Resolution wants bureaucrats to reach out to people

Officers must visit urban, rural areas

Cracking the whip on the lower rung of the state bureaucracy, the Maharashtra government has directed all senior bureaucrats to undertake periodic visits to the offices of their departments in urban and rural areas to monitor implementation of government policies.

According to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the general administration department (GAD) of the state government, additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries will have to make visits to field offices on the first Friday and Saturday and third Friday and Saturday of every month.

The direction came from the government weeks after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state bureaucracy was not fully co-operating with the new government and this was posing a hurdle in implementing policies.

Mr Fadnavis had also said that about 50 per cent of the lower bureaucracy was still reluctant to implement the policies and programmes of the BJP-Shiv Sena government for the past one year.

“While on their field visits, the senior bureaucrats must visit the offices of their departments in urban and rural areas and ensure that government schemes are being implemented at their level. The decision was taken on Saturday,” chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya said.

The GR further says while undertaking the review, officials should interact with both junior level officers, as well as designated beneficiaries of such schemes.

The GR asks officials to make a detailed report of their findings on the efficiency of government schemes and submit them to the chief secretary for an evaluation along with suggestions on how these government schemes can be implemented better. It says such visits will be taken into consideration while evaluating an official during the annual performance appraisal.