In Major Governance Reform, No File To Pass More Than 4 Hands

In a welcome change, no central government files will pass more than four hands before a decision and ministries will also be able to submit e-files to each other from next month. The idea behind such a move is to speed up decision-making and usher in an executive-centric and business-oriented functional transformation of government offices, a senior government official said.

Fifty eight ministries and departments have reviewed the "channel of submission" of files to bring it to four levels and the rest of the ministries are fast progressing in that direction and are expected to do so by next month, the official added.

Previously, Government files would pass through six to seven levels or even 10-12. In 2015, the Modi Government started a drive to reduce the channel of submission levels. Over 300 meetings at senior levels were held for about six years to achieve this, reported Moneycontrol.

Offices To Switch To E-Office

The government has rolled out the E-Office 7.0 version this month, which for the first time allows the inter-ministry transfer of files. Therefore, all ministries can now submit their proposals online for approval.

Thus far, ministries had an E-Office facility for their intra-ministry work. All 84 ministries and departments are expected to switch over to E-Office 7.0 version next month. Over 32,000 e-files are now being created every day. Idia has about 25 lakh e-files at present.

A senior government official said that now, the four levels identified for the channel of submission are secretary, additional secretary or joint secretary, director or deputy secretary or undersecretary, and all other levels.

The idea behind this is that no officer in one category needs to submit files to another officer in the same category. All ministries are now adopting this methodology with suitable modifications to do away with file submission between joint secretaries and additional secretaries and between director, deputy secretary, and undersecretary.

This involves delegation of powers at appropriate levels. It's also been proposed that absolutely routine matters be disposed of at just one level. An official said the exercise began in 2015 and it has taken six years for all ministries to be brought on board.

Also Read: Drug Abuse In India: Uttar Pradesh Recorded Highest NDPS Cases Among State In 2020; Mumbai Tops Metros