Change Laws That Silence Civil Servants: Chief Secretary

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The time has come to change rules that prevent civil servants from expressing their views openly and freely, Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson said here on Wednesday.

The Chief Secretary was delivering the presidential address at a function held to give away the 'State Media Awards 2014'. Jiji Thomson remarked that while the judiciary, legislature and the media could express their views freely, the executive did not have that freedom as civil servants were bound by the All-India Service Rules.

“I don't think such rules are relevant now. The rules should change or else civil servants will not be able to express themselves freely,” he said. There was no logic in asking a civil servant to remain silent, he added. The Chief Secretary also remarked that the media was giving scant regard to various development activities of the government and was instead focusing on negative news.Delivering the inaugural address, Information and Public Relations Minister K C Joseph noted that fierce competition existed among television channels to break news. “In the midst of this competition, one should ensure that facts and truth are not sacrificed,” he said.

The State Media Awards were presented to S N Jayaprakash of Mathrubhumi (general reporting); Mahesh Guptan of Malayala Manorama (development-oriented reporting); Bimal Thampi of Madhyamam (news photo), T K Sujith of Kerala Kaumudi (cartoon) and Asha Javed of Manorama News (TV reporting). The other award winners are: Anoop K of Asianet News (TV news editing), Sanjeev V of Manorama News (TV camera), Gopikrishnan K R of Media One (news presentation). The awards were also presented to T V Prasad of Asianet News and Binoj N of Manorama News who received the jury's special mention for TV reporting and TV news editing respectively.

‘State will Implement e-Auditing Soon’

T’Puram: Kerala was all set to become the first state in the country to implement e-auditing in government departments, Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has said. Calling it a revolutionary step, he said that the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office had lauded the efforts of the state government, calling it a step towards ensuring accountability. Currently, auditing happened in a span of five to 10 years in many departments. That situation would change as e-auditing would be conducted during the end of every financial year, he added. 

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