NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at improved governance and cross-learning in public administration, the Cabinet Secretariat has invited officers from the Central and state governments to share successful governance practices and administrative reforms implemented by them in their areas of work.
The initiative seeks to create a repository of practical and innovative solutions that can be replicated by officers in other departments. Through the office memorandum (OM) issued recently, the Secretariat has requested all secretaries to the Central government, chief secretaries of states and union territories (UTs), and directors general (D-G) of Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) to encourage officers under their jurisdiction to participate in the exercise and submit notes on the “good practices that are worth emulating or adopting by their peers and others.”
In the OM, the Secretariat noted that officers belonging to All India Services, Central Services, and State Services possess “valuable administrative experience” that could benefit governance systems if documented and shared widely.
“Many officers working in the Central government and the state governments and belonging to All lndia, Central and State Services have immense experience in public administration and their experience holds considerable value. It is desirable that good practices or learnings of wider applicability are documented and made available to other officers. This will encourage cross learning and improve governance,” reads the note.
The submissions may range from simple procedural improvements to major systemic reforms that have led to better public service delivery or administrative efficiency.
The submissions are to be sent to the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) for which the deadline is May 31. The officers have been given flexibility in preparing the notes, with no prescribed format or language restrictions.
“Officers are free to write in their own language (including regional language) in such a format as they may choose. However, the notes must be typed and not handwritten. The notes should not be too lengthy (maximum length of seven pages) and should be easily comprehensible to others.
They may cover any area of public administration where the officers feel that they have done very good or innovative work. They can be simple procedural improvements or complex systemic reforms,” the OM states.
The notes shared with NCGG will be examined for their relevance and significance and after preliminary review, external validation will take place.
“Thereafter, the submissions will be placed before a scrutiny committee of senior officers in the Cabinet Secretariat. The selected best practices will subsequently be uploaded on the portal of Cabinet Secretariat and NCGG for wider dissemination,” the note said.