Young civil servants come up with suggestions to boost Kerala development
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Young civil servants in the state came up with a slew of suggestions to boost Kerala’s overall development during the meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Tuesday. Introducing a people-friendly approach, creating awareness on government initiatives among women, social auditing for government machinery and civil service sector in addition to setting up labour banks in the state were some of the suggestions.
The district collectors wanted the government to raise the upper limit of funds that can be sanctioned from CM’s Distress Relief Fund. At present, the collectors can sanction up to Rs 10,000. It should be increased to Rs 25,000, they said. The officers also urged the chief minister to fix a minimum tenure for top officers in a post.
The other key suggestions included, documenting the 2018 Kerala flood, improving the basic infrastructure in village offices, state-level monitoring system to redress the issues faced by SC/ST communities, better coordination among departments, weekly interaction between district collectors and the public and speeding up road repair works in the state.
IPS officers who attended the meet pointed to the need to appoint more CIs in Crime Branch and Special Branch. Also, they underscored the need for a dedicated system to address civil complaints. Taking a cue from Telangana, a panel comprising the district collector, SP and an advocate should be set up for the same, the officers said.
Giving adequate weapons to forest staff for patrolling, suggestions to improve the living conditions of tribals, more solar fencing to prevent man-animal conflict and measures to avoid plastic in forest regions were some of the key suggestions that came from young IFS officers. Addressing the officers, the chief minister said the meet was part of a major initiative to collect opinions from various corners. Senior IAS officers T K Jose, Asha Thomas, V Venu, V S Senthil and Sivasankar also attended the meet.