Bureaucrats in Delhi, who have felt the heat of the anti-corruption wave sweeping the country, were in for a surprise when their suggestions were sought on curbing red-tapism.
Red-tape is considered to be the prime reason behind corruption in government offices.
These bureaucrats received a communication from the Cabinet Secretariat last week, urging them to share their advise on fighting corruption and give ideas to help promote "transparency and good governance."
The Cabinet Secretariat has asked all ministries to take "urgent steps" to improve the government's image.
The letter went out to all ministries after a meeting of the committee of secretaries on the 'government's agenda on good governance and anti- corruption'. The letter directed all ministries to take 'urgent steps' to improve the government's image.
Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth and the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee attended the meeting on October 12.
"A few important initiatives may be identified, with the approval of the minister- in-charge, which promote transparency and good governance, especially with regard to the government-citizen interface," says the letter, referring to the CoS decisions.
It asks all ministries to forward a short brief on the 'identified issues' to the cabinet secretariat at the earliest.
"The short write- up or brief may include, apart from details of the proposed initiative, the present status thereof, strategic importance of the initiative vis-a- vis the objectives of the ministry or department, critical indicators of performance, and the timelines proposed for its implementation," as also a format to monitor these timelines, says the letter.
The Cabinet Secretariat will compile the suggestions and then the CoS will give a briefing about them to a group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on anti-corruption measures. The CoS holds weekly meetings to track the government's measures to improve 'transparency' in governance.
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