Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Sept 24: Inaugurating a workshop on e-Office and e-Governance here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Narendra Modi Government has followed its commitment for ease in governance in letter and spirit, and one of the most glaring evidence of this lies in the fact that while every Government takes pride in enacting new rules and legislations, in our case, instead of make new rules, we abolished several old and obsolete ones. In this context, he mentioned the abolition of rule for getting the attestation of certificates and also the rule for a life certificate to be produced by every elderly pensioner.
Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that the Prime Minister had during his Independence day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, suggested whether it was possible to do away with the practice of holding interviews for posts where it was not absolutely essential and in less than one month of this, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) and Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (ARPG) had already started the exercise and some of the States like Maharashtra have made a big headway in this direction.
Rules are meant for the benefit of the common masses, said Dr Jitendra Singh and added that any rule which adds to the burden of governance and causes delay or harassment for the common man is not worth being retained. The litmus test of good governance or ease of governance lies in whether are not its benefits have reached the last man in the last queue as was the “Antyoday” teaching of our founding father Deendayal Upadhyaya.
The key to “Good Governance”, said Dr Jitendra Singh, lies in reducing red tapism, expediting procedures through electronic and digital means, riddance from rules which are obstructionist and providing an environment which enables officers to perform their best. While expectation level of people from bureaucrats and administrators has gone high, the society also expects them to show quick results in tune with the high-tech fast moving global world, he added.
Complimenting the first ever group of Assistant Secretaries in the Government of India, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is also a departure from the early rules wherein now, every young IAS officer will undergo three months stint at the Centre before taking an assignment in the State of his or her cadre allocation.
Senior officers from Ministry of Personnel and PMO as well as the first batch of Assistant Secretaries were present on the occasion.
Follow our WhatsApp channel