The State government has ordered a quick sample survey in Mysore district to know why people are not given relief they sought for at the level of the village panchayat, taluk or hobli and are brought all the way to the district headquarters or the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore. The government is contemplating changes in rules based on the survey results to make the process easy.
Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee on Monday said that the government was willing to re-frame the rules if it helped in providing better service to the people, especially in the villages, so that they are not compelled to make unnecessary trips to Bangalore for even small tasks.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Mukherjee said that this decision was taken during his visit to Mysore on Saturday.
Mr. Mukherjee said that the survey would be carried out in the offices of Deputy Commissioner at the headquarters, taluk and nada kacheri at the hobli level and 500 prospective applicants would be asked to give their reasons to why they visit these offices.
He said that their replies such as the work and whether they were given relief at the lower level or if there was delay in the movement of files and the problems they faced in the process would be recorded during the three-day survey.
He said that a probationary IAS officer, Annies Kanmani Joy, in the Mysore Deputy Commissioner’s office had been entrusted with the job and she would submit a report to him after a day or two. The Chief Secretary said that he wanted to know why “we are unable to give services at the grassroots level then and there.” He said that the rules would be re-framed for the strict implementation of Sakala. He said that services should be available to the people at the village panchayat, hobli or taluk levels and not in the offices of the Chief Secretary or the Ministers at the Vidhana Soudha. He said that people were forced to waste their time, energy and money visiting district headquarters and offices in Bangalore for no fault of theirs. It is all the more difficult if they had physical disabilities, he said.
“Setting our house in order should be important. Mere disposal of files without giving relief sought for by the applicant is of no use. I will see whether grievances are being redressed or not,” he said. The Chief Secretary said that he had appealed to the heads of department, especially the secretaries, to give sufficient powers to the local authorities, to make the system work.
