Project Sadbhabana: Assam government to clear all old files by May 2022

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: In a bid to make governance citizen-friendly, by migrating to e-governance under "Project Sadbhabana", the Assam government has decided to dispose all old files prior to May 10, 2021, which are pending at the Assam Secretariat for more than 10-20 years.The exercise will be completed within six months i.e., May 10, 2022.

After completion of the 'Sadbhabana', the State government will introduce e-file system in the State Secretariat.

"We plan to kick off the project tentatively by November 10. Citizens will be able to share details like their file numbers/ subject/ department at the portals of Assam government and RTPS (Right To Public Service), facilitation centres and at a dedicated counter outside the Secretariat. The project will alleviate the hardships of citizens as they do not have to visit government offices," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said addressing the media here on Friday.

"There are many files pending for disposal in the Assam Secretariat for more than 10-20 years. Some of the people related to the files have already gone for heavenly abode. So under the 'Project Sadbhabana', we decided to dispose all files within six months," Sarma said.

"Under the rules, the files which can be disposed will be disposed off immediately. Those files which can't be disposed off will be closed and we will informthe individual concerned that his file has been closed," Sarma said.

"We think more than 1 lakh are pending for disposal in the State Secretariat over the years," the Chief Minister said and added that the Ministers, officials and staff have to work overtime to dispose these files because it is a huge task.

After this we will take up measures for clearing old files in various directorates and DC offices, he said

"There are many files pertaining to various government departments. In such cases no decisions have been taken despite the matter has been pending for years. While the corresponding oil files are gathering dust at the rack, the hapless citizens have to make umpteen visits in pursuing the cases hoping for some decisions," the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister said that M/S KPMG has undertaken a study to understand why the citizens come to the Secretariat. At present 300-700 people visit Secretariat on a given day. This number is a conservative figure due to Covid-19 pandemic and the actual number is likely to be substantially higher.

The Chief Minister also said a feedback from these visitors revealed that top few reasons for the visits are follow up on the older bills, follow up on the older files, communication of pension provincialisation, employment and service matter etc.

27 per cent visitors are attracted by Education Department, 19 per cent by PWD, 8 per cent by Pension and Public Grievances, 5 per cent by Irrigation; and 4 per cent visitors are attracted by the Social Welfare Department. 29 per cent visitors are government employees, 24 per cent contractors, 12 per cent teaching staff, 7 per cent general public, 6.5 per cent corporate and 6 per cent are retired people, Sarma said.

"The study revealed that most of them are not current cases but the old cases where no decisions have been taken for years. A one time exercise to dispose of all the cases will bring huge relief to the citizens. It will result in closing files and making space in the department. Clearing all the files will drastically reduce the number of visits to the Secretariat too," he said.

"On completion of the Project Sadbhawana, all the departments will have taken decision on older files and will focus on current issues," he also said.

"The project will have two phases. In the first phase, a window of three months will be given to all citizens for registration and quoting the file numberor reference of government communication regarding the old case. This can be done online in the government portal (RTPS), portal or the government website). Those who do not have access to the internet can approach PEC (Public Facilitation Centres) and subsequently register and give the details. The citizens will be provided a unique number for tracking the progress of the case. Simultaneously, all the departments will undertake the exercise to collect document and examine all the old files and the cae dating before May 221.

In the second phase, the department will be given three months to clear all the old casesand subsequently close the files. The clearing of the cases will not mean that decision will always be affirmative. It will mean that due diligence regarding these cases will be done by the department and final decision will be taken. After the decisions, old files will be closed and archived. The exercise will be completed by May 10, 2022, he further said.

The government will use technology extensively in completing the exercise. The portal will be used for inviting response from the citizens. Citizens can track the progress of the response. The file movement will be tracked through offline, Further the implementation of this project will be monitored by the government throgh a dashboard, he added.

Also Read: Assam Cabinet takes a slew of decisions

Also watch: