Makes Govt employees accountable, reaches out to people by revamping grievance mechanism cells
By: Afaq Bhat
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Government led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has worked swiftly during the past one year.
LG Sinha has led from the front and has taken many bold decisions. He has taken decisive calls on many such issues that were lingering on for the past many decades. The administration led by him has remained focused on the agenda of development and making everyone, including the government employees, accountable.
It’s in place to mention here that in February this year, the government had asked all its employees to file their property returns and had warned that if anyone fails to do so it would be treated as non-compliance. The new rules which have come into force after J&K’s transition into a union territory are being implemented in letter and spirit. Many new laws have been framed to make the government employees accountable.
An official said, “Strict instructions have been passed to all the Head of Departments (HoDs) to strictly monitor the activities of their subordinates and if anyone is found involved in any sort of illegal activity, strict action should be initiated against him.”
The employees being asked to disclose their property details was a significant move as it brought to fore who owns what. In the past many such cases came to light where the government employees had amassed huge assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Properties of many such employees were attached and a few in-service employees were also suspended. Even the property details of retired employees were verified and in a few cases action was also taken.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The work culture in the government offices has changed drastically during the past 2-years. Employees don’t keep the files pending anymore as they are aware that they are under constant vigil.”
He said, “The development works have been expedited and multiple cells have been set up to listen to the grievances of the people. LG’s Awaam-Ki-Awaz helpline has evoked a tremendous response as the authorities are just a call away from a common man.”
“Since the day Manoj Sinha has taken over the reins of Jammu and Kashmir he has changed the very concept of governance. LG Sinha has also taken some tough decisions to ensure that no one succeeds in derailing the process of development in Jammu and Kashmir,” the analyst added.
He said that LG Sinha has been instrumental in shaping up the model of governance in the union territory and he has set a benchmark about how to govern.
