The Centre is looking to increase efficiency of Government departments and ensure faster decision making through time bound movement and disposal of files as well as undertake initiatives for greater digitisation.

To this end, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has asked all Ministries and departments to adopt various initiatives.

Four-pronged initiative

This includes a four-pronged initiative, under which the channel of submission of the file should be restricted to a maximum of four layers. Further, there should be delegation of powers to lower formulations.

It has also recommended that Government Ministries should adopt a Desk Officer System of ensure single point disposal of files. Further, there should be digitization of all receipts in the Central Registry Units.

“To facilitate quicker decision making, Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure (CSIUOP) prescribed that the channel of submission should not be more than four,” it suggested.

Internal consultations

A number of Government Ministries are understood to have already held internal consultations on the issue and are charting out their roadmap for the same.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment, for instance, has decided that Bureau Heads should ensure that the files moved in the Bureau should not cross more than four levels.

“In exceptional cases, if it goes beyond four level then such cases should not be more than five per cent and such cases be reviewed on monthly basis,” it has said.

Routine files

Routine files should not be marked to Secretary (Labour and Employment). Only those files should be submitted to Secretary which involve decision as the competent authority, policy matters, submission to the Minister or other important matters which require the attention of Secretary, it decided.

It has also recommended that intra-Ministerial and inter-Ministerial communications, circulars, meeting notices should be communicated through digital mode only.

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