Observing that several officials have been absent from meetings of the District Development Committees (DDC) and jan sunwayis (public hearings), the Delhi government directed all district magistrates (DMs) to ensure the officers concerned attend these meetings and take strict action against those who fail to attend.
“All district magistrates must ensure designated officers attend DDC meetings. If the designated officer fails to attend… a show cause notice will be issued to the officer concerned with a copy to their Head of Department and CM office,” read the order issued by the government.
The order also said notices will be issued to officers/officials who do not attend public hearings.
Further, the government asked departments to appoint a designated senior officer to attend these meetings. “Similarly, officials may be nominated at the Assembly constituency level for the jan sunwai. This will help the district administration implement decisions taken in a meeting held by the CM last month and seek action taken reports,” said officials.
Last month, Chief Minister Rekha held a high-level meeting with all DMs and DDC chairpersons to discuss the government’s new project to set up mini-secretaries in the 11 revenue districts.
Asking officials to ensure real-time progress at the grassroots level and maintain open communication with the public, Gupta had also directed that officers nominated from departments concerned will have to mandatorily attend all future DDC meetings. Any officer found absent without a valid justification will face disciplinary action.
DMs were also directed to identify suitable land and prepare proposals to set up mini-secretariats in the revenue districts where the public can access services like registration of marriage, get caste certificates and licences, and raise public grievances under one roof.
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The CM has appointed new chairpersons of DDCs, who are MLAs. The committee meets once a month, where district magistrates and officials concerned from various departments attend and address the grievances of the public.
Officials said the jan sunwayis are held by the CM, ministers and MLAs. “The CM has fixed three days in a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday — to meet the people. They also meet the public on other days as well, if someone approaches them. Ministers meet the public at their camp offices from 9 am to 11 am…,” said officials.
Besides, DMs and SDMs have also been directed to hold public hearing meetings every Saturday.
The BJP government has been tightening the screws on the bureaucracy ever since it took charge. It has issued several warnings to officials to take their work seriously, or the government will take strict action.
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In March, PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh ordered the suspension of an engineer over poor maintenance of drains. The government also issued warnings to engineers that if waterlogging is not cleared immediately and is found anywhere during the monsoon, they will be placed under suspension. Recently, the PWD also placed an engineer under suspension for not providing safety gear to workers who clean drains and carry out de-silting.