BENGALURU: Fresh out of bypoll victory, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is now focussing on strengthening the administration. In a confidence-building exercise on Friday, the chief minister called a meeting of all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries to let the bureaucrats know that his government is stable and there is no need to fret about change in government.
Apart from urging officials to get cracking on ongoing development works, Yediyurappa set a week’s deadline to disburse all pending flood relief measures without any excuses. In the first such meeting after the bypoll results, Yediyurappa has asked district in-charge ministers and department secretaries to tour districts and take stock of developmental activities personally.
“I will call another such meeting before the assembly session on January 20. By then, I want all developmental activities, especially in flood-affected areas, to be personally inspected and reviewed district-wise and reports be sent,” Yediyurappa told officials.
Yediyurappa has also asked secretaries to personally review why a few beneficiaries who have availed Rs 1 lakh compensation to build houses in flood-affected regions haven’t started construction yet. He was apprised that so far 5.06 lakh farmers have been given Rs 785.94 crore compensation in total for crop loss and the delay was caused in the case of 37,000 farmers since their bank accounts were not Aadhaar-linked. After setting a deadline of one week to disburse all compensation, the Chief Minister instructed that the compensation be paid by cheques.
Secretary-level officials have been asked to submit review reports to district in-charge ministers every 15 days after district tours while the Chief Secretary has been asked to compile and review such reports every month.
Babus told to meet netas at any hour
The Department of Personnel and Administrative Services (DPAR) has directed senior officials to meet elected representatives anytime they want during office hours, even if they are in the middle of meetings. A circular issued by DPAR directed the additional chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and secretary-ranking officials to meet people every day from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm, except on holidays.
They were also instructed not to schedule any meetings during that time. The circular also stressed that bureaucrats should “give time to MLAs, MLCs and MPs” at any given time. They have been told to meet elected representatives even if they are in the midst of meetings. A senior IAS officer said they do not have any problems in setting aside two hours a day for the public.