Bhubaneswar: In a major decision that will have far-reaching effects on governance, the Government of Odisha has decided to streamline the governance process by integration of the Directorates with the Administrative Departments.
The General Administration department has come out with a resolution which says that in order to streamline the functioning of Directorates and speed up the process of decision making, the government has been pleased to integrate the different Directorates with their respective Administrative Departments to function as composite departments with immediate effect.
The decision of the government to amalgamate the directorates with administrative heads will help in many ways, especially when the government is determined to implement the 5-T Mantra. This will completely reduce the time for decision making and improve transparency in the process. By avoiding duplicacy of work, decisions can be taken immediately and without confusion.
Automatically it would lead to transparency and accountability within the department. The age old problem of red tape which has been a major hindrance in governance and development will get restricted to a great extent. As the streamlined process will lessen the number of scrutiny at different levels, the implementation of decisions will be faster.
The system of super authority in the various hierarchies of Directorates and Administrative Departments will get simplified and would result in saving time and resources. For example, when a Director would send a proposal that has been carefully prepared to the Department, it used to be again reexamined by the officials and staff of the Secretariat, which used to take much time and delayed the implementation of various welfare measures. This is going to be avoided totally under the new system.
The resolution also says that with the integration of the directorates with the administrative departments, the whole process will come under the Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System which has been in use in the secretariat till now.
The step will help realise the aim of implementing the 5-T in a whole. It has all the components of 5-T – Technology, Transparency, Teamwork, Time and Transformation.
According to the resolution of the GA Department, the integrated department shall function in the premises of the concern administrative department or directorate as may be decided by the administrative department keeping in view availability of space and public convenience. Also, the various sections of the directorate and the administrative department that are common such as the Office Establishment, Issue and Accounts and Cash will be reorganised. The resolution also says that any surplus staff after the integration shall be surrendered to the pool being managed by the administrative reforms cell of the GA and PG department for redeployment.
The administrative department shall take necessary steps to make budget for the combined department. The budget provisions will be made from next financial year onwards in consultation with the finance department.
The decision of the government reflects that it is in action mode and wants to implement the administrative reforms as early as possible. The process has got momentum after the Chief Minister made 5-T the corner stone of governance and also appointed an efficient officer V. K Pandian as the Secretary 5-T initiatives to look after the implementation of the transformation process.
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