Srinagar: The Government on Tuesday ordered establishment of “Excellence Groups” in Government Departments of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Transfers in an administrative setup based on tenure system are a routine affair, necessitated many a times, either by administrative exigencies or Government priorities and interests,” noted a government circular, adding, “These transfers however, should not break continuity and flow of set organizational goals and priorities.”
Continuity of ideas and best practices, the government noted, is a key ingredient of administration and so is knowledge-sharing and a robust feedback mechanism, especially involving those who have prior experience of working in a particular department.
“It is a common observation that consequent upon transfers of Administrative Secretaries and Senior Officers from various departments, departmental priorities get re-aligned and hence initiatives conceptualized/initiated by the outgoing Secretary or a Senior Officer, which may not get materialized during their tenure, sometimes remain unattended, thereby not yielding the desired outcome visualized by the outgoing officer.”
Recognizing the significance of such ideas and initiatives and therefore to ensure continuity of thought, the government said, it has been decided to establish “Excellence Groups” under the concerned Administrative Secretaries in all departments of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir for facilitating exchange of ideas and concepts among Administrative Secretaries and other Senior Officers, who have held the charge of the department or office in the past, and the present incumbents of these departments or offices. “This shall not only ensure materializing of fruitful ideas/initiatives, but would also foster value-addition in the governance structure, converting an idea into a tangible outcome,” reads the circular.
“It is accordingly enjoined upon all Administrative Secretaries and Heads of Departments to establish these Excellence Groups and make them vibrant by organizing discussions, while inviting senior officers, who have previously worked in these departments/offices. This would foster knowledge- sharing and continuity of thought and this kind of forum for argumentation would be an aid to achieve tangible results of the initiatives/programmes conceived from time to time. These discussions should be instituted as an embedded feature of the overall working of the departments.” (GNS)