Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Sept 19: Perturbed over the failure of Government functionaries to take Legislature business with all seriousness, the State Government today issued directives to all the Administrative Secretaries and Special/Additional Secretaries to accord highest priority to the Legislature business.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR that learning from experiences of previous Legislature sessions, the Government after serious consultations, instructed General Administration Department (GAD) to issue a circular bearing No. 24-GAD of 2013 dated September 18, which contains guidelines to the entire bureaucracy. The objective is to enable the Minister’s of Congress-National Conference (NC) coalition to come up with suitable response on the floor of House on all issues of public importance.
“The directions had actually become imperative in view of the fact that during the past several sessions of Legislature, several Government Ministers had to suffer embarrassment at the hands of opposition due to lack of appropriate information and in several cases the questions of importance had to be deferred”, sources asserted.
Sources further elaborated, “there has been several instances when the Administrative Secretaries of the concerned Ministers were missing while debate on their respective departments was on in the Legislature. Speaker, Legislative Assembly Mubarak Gul and Chairman of Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra on several occasions had to remind the incumbents to take the working of House seriously.”
“Several times, the Ministers of the Government have made assurances on issue of public importance, but their own Department’s had failed to fulfill them in due course of time. With the result, the Government had to suffer humiliation at the hands of Legislators belonging to opposition parties and even at times from their own political parties”, sources said deploring the state of affairs.
Gearing up for the forthcoming Assembly session, which starts on September 30, the GAD circular has ‘requested’ all the Administrative Secretaries to accord highest priority and personal attention to the matters relating to the Legislature so as to avoid embarrassment to the Government. “Attention needs to be paid, in particular, to furnishing of replies to the Questions, Short Notice Questions, Resolutions, Calling Attention Motions, Half Hour Discussions, etc. in a time bound manner”, says the circular.
“In case of difference of opinion between two or more Departments about the responsibility for a particular matter, the decision of GAD shall be final”, says the circular.
The circular adds that all the Administrative Secretaries are further requested to remain available in the Official Gallery of the House during the Question Hour to provide inputs and information as may be required by the Ministers, while replying to the questions.
“Senior officials of the rank of Special/ Additional Secretaries should be detailed for duty during Zero Hour. The officials shall bring the issues raised to the notice of Administrative Secretaries for appropriate and urgent response”, says the circular.
On assurances given by the Ministers on the floor of the House, the circular says, “the assurances are required to be fulfilled satisfactorily and within the shortest possible time. It needs to be ensured that the actions taken on assurances given in the past are communicated to the Secretariat of the concerned House of the Legislature under intimation to the General Administration Department.”
The Department of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Secretariats of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council shall be kept informed of the action taken on all matters on a day-to-day basis.
While referring to the forthcoming Legislature session, the circular says, “the Autumn Session of the State Legislature is to commence from September 30, 2013. The Session provides a platform to the
Legislators to scrutinize the policies, programmes and performance of the Government. The constitution has provided various instruments in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business to secure information and Government’s response to the issues of public importance.”
Copies of circular, which has been issued by Secretary GAD, M A Bukhari have been sent to all Principal Secretaries, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, all Commissioner/ Secretaries and Private Secretaries of all Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State.
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