HIGHLIGHTS

After encountering problems due to unbearable delay in dispatching files at various departments, the state government issued guidelines to all the departments in the Secretariat, on Friday.

Amaravati: After encountering problems due to unbearable delay in dispatching files at various departments, the state government issued guidelines to all the departments in the Secretariat, on Friday. It mandated the officials concerned to dispatch the e-Office files within a specific time frame. The government warned that notices will be served for the failure of issuing Government Orders within stipulated time.

“In case of breach of the specified timelines for issuing Government Order, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will recall the file to examine the reasons for the delay in issuance of Government Order and will direct the Principal Secretary (Political) to issue show cause notice to concerned Secretaries for taking necessary action”, stated Praveen Prakash, Principal Secretary (Political), General Administration Department, in the GO MS No 128.

Further, Chief Minister may authorize Principal Secretary (Political) or any other Special Chief Secretary/ Principal Secretary/ Secretary to Government to issue the G.O. For this, the authorized Special Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary to Government may convene a meeting with the concerned Officers and issue the Government Order.

He stated that “It has been observed by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy that in many instances, even after issuance of instructions by Chief Minister’s Office, Government Orders are not being issued on time. The timely issuance of Government Orders is central to the welfare of the people. Moreover, delay in taking decision also reduces the effectiveness of the decision”. To ensure strict adherence to the time schedule in issue of Government Orders, and keeping in view Section IV, Rule 20 of AP Business Rules, 2018, the Secretary made amendments. He instructed that, all files sent by Chief Minister or from his Office through e-office to all Special Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries to Government shall be endorsed as one of the three following categories. They including, Out Today (Issue G.O./ Action taken on Same day), Most Immediate (Issuance of G.O./ Intimation of Action Taken in Five working days) and Immediate (Issuance of G.O./ Intimation of Action taken in 15 working days). The three categories of files shall be handled in the following manner: Out Today (Issue G.O./ Action taken on Same day)

♦ The timeline for issuance of G.O. for all the files endorsed by Hon’ble Chief Minister/ Chief Minister’s Office as ‘Out today’ is T+1 day, i.e. the timeline of 1 day for issuance of G.O. starts the day after the receipt of the file by the concerned Secretary.

♦ The action taken on the file shall be intimated by the Sponsoring Secretary on the same day to Hon’ble Chief Minister/ Chief Minister’s Office. Post facto approval may be taken from the competent authority subsequent to issuance of the G.O. Most Immediate

♦ The timeline for issuance of G.O. for all the files endorsed by Hon’ble Chief Minister/ Chief Minister’s Office as ‘Most Immediate’ is T+5 working days, i.e. the timeline of 5 working days for issuance of G.O. starts the day after the receipt of the file by the concerned Secretary.

♦ The Sponsoring Secretary may consult Finance Department, Law Department or any other department in this regard. The Finance Department and Law Department shall be given 2 days’ time to provide a response. Any other department shall be given 1 days’ time to provide their response. If no response is received from any department(s) (Finance Department/ Law Department/ Any other Department) consulted, then the Sponsoring Secretary may take it as deemed approval. The entire consultation process up to issuance of G.O. shall be completed within the above-stated timeline of T+5 working days. ♦ The action taken on the file shall be intimated by the Sponsoring Secretary within the timeline to Chief Minister or Chief Minister’s Office. Immediate

♦ The timeline for issuance of G.O. for all the files endorsed by Hon’ble Chief Minister/ Chief Minister’s Office as ‘Most Immediate’ is T+15 working days, i.e. the timeline of 15 working days for issuance of G.O. starts the day after the receipt of the file by the concerned Secretary.

♦ The Sponsoring Secretary may consult Finance Department, Law Department or any other department in this regard. The Finance Department and Law Department shall be given 3 days’ time to provide a response. Any other department shall be given 2 days’ time to provide their response. If no response is received from any department(s) (Finance Department/ Law Department/ Any other Department) consulted, then the Sponsoring Secretary may take it as deemed approval. The entire consultation process up to issuance of G.O. shall be completed within the timeline of T+15 working days.

The action taken on the file shall be intimated by the Sponsoring Secretary within the timeline to Hon’ble Chief Minister/ Chief Minister’s Office. If the Government Orders and Memos being issued by the Ministers or Secretaries would attract the attention of Media, it must be sent to the Chief Minister’s Office for perusal before issuing the Government Order, Praveen Prakash mandated. If the concerned Department does not receive any response from the Chief Minister’s Office in five working days regarding the draft Government Order, the orders in the said files shall be deemed to have been approved and Government Order may be issued.