BANGALORE: The state secretariat is unlikely to be brought under the purview of Sakaala scheme due to differing opinions among officials on the issue.
Sakaala was introduced by the previous BJP government to fix responsibility on officials to deliver services to citizens within a stipulated period. Already, more than 600 of over 2,000 services of various government departments have been brought under this scheme.
Recently, the legislature passed the Karnataka Sakaala Services (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which allows recovery of compensatory cost at `20 per day (maximum of `500) from officials guilty of delaying services. Besides, a provision has been made in the Act to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the designated officer or competent officer of appellate authority who fails to deliver related services or dispose of appeals within the stipulated time.
Following requests from members of both ruling and opposition parties to bring the state Secretariat under Sakaala, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra had assured the House that this will be done to make top bureaucrats accountable.
He had also favoured stringent punishment for senior officials if they were found guilty of delaying delivery of services ‘intentionally’.
According to sources, soon after the Legislature session ended, a proposal was sent to the Chief Minister’s office seeking permission to extend the scheme to the secretariat. But the proposal has not been cleared by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah yet. It is said that the CM is under a lot of pressure to put this on hold. When contacted, Jayachandra said he has already sent a detailed proposal to the CM and is awaiting a reply.
Not In Present Form
Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee told Express that it is tough to implement it in the present form without a debate with the heads of departments. Pending files in various departments are reviewed by the State Cabinet once a month and necessary steps are taken.
There are certain grey areas in the system which need to be looked into before taking any decision. A time limit cannot be fixed regarding financial matters since many departments are inter-connected. Sakaala is more helpful at the district-level as officials tend to delay intentionally, he said. “I am not in favour of this proposal in the present form,” he added.
Chief Minister’s Promise
Replying to BJP’s Kota Srinivasa Pujari in the Legislative Council recently, the CM had promised that services of the secretariat would be brought under Sakaala. Siddaramaiah had said 21 services under DPAR and six services of the Department of Finance are already under Sakaala. Another 1,000 services will be brought under the scheme in a phased manner, he had said. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar said the government is not committed to bringing the secretariat under Sakaala. Both Siddaramaiah and Jayachandra have to keep their promise made to the House. “If the Chief Secretary says that it cannot be implemented in the present form, the minister concerned has to sit with him and change it accordingly. It’s a known fact that files move at a snail’s pace in the secretariat,” Shettar said.