VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Friday issued an order to ensure strict adherence to the time schedule in issuance of Government Orders regarding the decisions taken by the Chief Minister and the Cabinet.
The State government came up with the order as it was observed that in many instances, even after issuance of instructions by the Chief Minister or Chief Minister’s Office, GOs were not being promptly issued, defeating the very purpose.
The government is of the view that the timely issuance of GOs is vital for the welfare of people and the delay in issuance of Government Orders will hamper implementation of the important policy decisions.
To ensure strict adherence to the time schedule in issuance of Government Orders and keeping in view Section IV, Rule 20 of Andhra Pradesh Business Rules, 2018, amendments have been made to the AP Business Rules.
The order, which came into force with immediate effect, reads that all files sent by the Chief Minister or the Chief Minister’s Office through e-office to all Special Chief Secretaries/ Principal Secretaries /Secretaries to Government shall be endorsed as any of the three following categories.
Out Today (Issuance of GO/action taken on same day). Most Immediate (Issuance of GO/intimation of action taken in five working days). Immediate (Issuance of GO/intimation of action taken in 15 working days). Though sources in the CMO said that the government came up with the order to expedite the implementation of the development and welfare schemes, it has created cripples among a section of bureaucrats, who are of the view that they are not being taken into account at the time of decision making and are only being entrusted with the task of issuing orders and overseeing implementation.
However, it is learnt that some of the officials are not adhering to the directions and sitting on the files without issuing GOs citing various reasons. Though the government identified some loopholes in appointment of outsourcing employees in the previous regime, no action was taken in this regard in spite of instructions from the Chief Minister.
According to the GO, the time frame for issuance of GOs under Out Today category for all the files endorsed by the Chief Minister/CMO is one day after the receipt of the file by the concerned secretary. The action taken on the file shall be intimated by the sponsoring secretary on the same day to the Chief Minister/CMO. Post facto approval may be taken from the competent authority subsequent to issuance of the GO.
Under the Most Immediate category, the time frame for issuance of GOs for all the files endorsed by the Chief Minister/CMO is T+5 working days after the receipt of the file by the concerned secretary. The sponsoring secretary may consult the Finance Department, Law Department or any other department in this regard. The Finance Department and Law Department shall be given two days time to provide response. Any other department shall be given one day time to give its response. If no response is received from any of the departments consulted, then the sponsoring secretary may take it as deemed approval. The entire consultation process up to issuance of GO shall be completed within the time frame of T+5 working days.
Under the Immediate category, the time frame for issuance of GOs for all the files endorsed by the Chief Minister/CMO is T+15 working days after the receipt of the particular file by the concerned secretary.
The sponsoring secretary may consult the Finance Department, Law Department or any other department in this regard. The Finance Department and Law Department shall be given three days time to provide response.
Any other department shall be given two days time to give its response. If no response is received from any of the departments consulted, then the sponsoring secretary may take it as deemed approval. The entire consultation process up to issuance of GO shall be completed within the time frame of T+15 working days.
In case of breach of the specified time frame for issuing GOs, the Chief Minister may recall the file to examine the reasons for the delay in issuance of GO and may direct the Principal Secretary (Political) to issue show cause notice to concerned Special Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary for taking necessary action.
Further, the Chief Minister may authorise the Principal Secretary (Political) or any other Special Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary to Government to issue the GO. For this, the authorised Special Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary to Government may convene a meeting with the concerned officers and issue the GO.
If the concerned department feels that any specific GO/Memo may attract the attention of media, it may be sent to the CMO for perusal before issuing the GO. If the concerned department does not receive any response from the CMO in five working days regarding the draft GO, the orders in the said files shall be deemed to have been approved and GO can be issued.