Mail News Service
\nNew Delhi, July 16: The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri V. Narayanasamy has exhorted the district administrators to take a lead in ensuring that public service delivery mechanism operates effectively at the grass root level. Inaugurating the 4th Conference of Secretaries of Administrative Reforms in States\/UTs in New Delhi today, Shri Narayanasamy said that district is the nucleus, and the country moves forward when the administration at district level is strong and people friendly. Transparency and citizen-centric administration is key to ensuring welfare of public at the grass root level, he said. The Minister added that for the purpose it is imperative that district administrators perform an effective supervisory role in the field to ensure that lower level administration is sensitive to people\u2019s needs and service delivery is quick.
\nHe also stressed on proper monitoring of execution through more field work rather than desk work.
\nThe Minister emphasised that corruption at grass root level has to end so that benefits of Government schemes reach up to the beneficiaries in a smooth manner. District administrators play a crucial role in this regard and can become a catalyst for change in people\u2019s life, the Minister said. Shri Narayanasamy said that the role and functions of a district collector has undergone a tremendous change in the recent times and they have to rise to meet the challenges. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances(DARPG) has developed training programmes for them so that they are updated on related issues and stay abreast of developments.
\nSecretary(DARPG), R.C. Mishra in his opening remarks said that the Government role in the present times is more of a facilitator in providing citizen-centric administration. The Government is putting in place systems to make public delivery mechanism transparent and to ensure that no section of the society remains out of spurview of Government schemes. He stressed upon the need of use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in delivery of public services.
\nA panel discussion on \u2018Role of District Collectors in Changing Times\u2019 was held during the conference.
\n Ramesh C. Misra, Secretary, Department of AR & PG, P. K. Misra, Secretary, DOPT, Vikram Chand, Senior Public Sector Management Specialist, World Bank and Dr Nivedita P Haran, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala participated in the panel discussion.
\nVarious issues faced by the District Collectors in the discharge of their duties were raised during the discussion such as use of technology to streamline the work of Collector, empowering the Collector to become a successful leader, capacity building, etc. The panelists have stressed the unassailable role the District Collector plays in the development of a district. Representatives from various States made on by presentations the AR initiatives undertaken by them.
\nThe Conference aims to create a national platform to share experiences of the states in the field of reforms\/initiatives undertaken by the departments of Administrative Reforms in the States\/Union
\nTerritories to improve public service delivery, make the administration effective, transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly. It provides a forum for the A R Departments of the States\/UTs to highlight the challenges faced by them and their expectations from the Department of AR & PG, Government of India. The Conference also provides an opportunity to take stock of the pace and progress of administrative reforms across the country. <\/p>\n\n