Bureaucracy is unresponsive: CM

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 13. The Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, today said he was terribly dissatisfied with the way the top level bureaucracy was functioning in the State.

``You know the kind of crisis we are facing today. But most of you are not showing the sense of urgency expected of you,'' he told a meeting of the District Collectors here.

``It is 90 days since this Government came to office. My experience so far does not make me happy. You are not rising to the occasion. I am not speaking about the Collectors alone, but also about the top officers in the Secretariat,'' he said, adding that the officials were forgetting that they had a commitment to the people and the State.

He told the Collectors that their performance from now on would be judged by what they achieved in five specific areas: 1. Revenue collection, including the wiping out of arrears, National Savings deposits and flow of resources into vital developmental sectors, 2. Coordination of the plan activities of the local self-governing institutions, 3. Welfare of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other deprived sections, 4. Taking the administration closer to the people and finding solutions to their grievances and 5. Providing prompt feedback on how the people take the policies of the Government at the implementation stage.

Mr. Antony said it would be difficult for the State to pull on, unless the revenue collection was substantially improved and the administrative expenses brought down. The monthly revenue of the State, excluding the Plan assistance, was only in the region of Rs. 774 crores, while the expenses on salaries, pensions, interest repayment, various committed assistances and maintenance of offices came to Rs. 944 crores. This left a gap of Rs. 170 crores to be bridged.

Mr. Antony told the Collectors that a sum of Rs. 172 crores, which could be mobilised through revenue recovery proceedings, was yet to be collected. Similarly, Rs. 875 crores remained blocked because of stay orders. ``This would not do. Wherever possible, you should get the stay orders vacated and realise the money due to the Government,'' he said.

The Chief Minister said the Government wanted to strengthen the powers of the Collectors so that they could function more effectively. Since many of the development functions had been devolved to the local self-government institutions, the District Collectors would find it easier to devote themselves more to revenue mobilisation efforts. They should be able to come up with better results, he added.

Later, the Chief Minister also addressed meetings of the officials of the other major Government departments to brief them on the special initiatives expected of them during the Onam festival.

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Section  : Southern States
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