Chandigarh: Secretaries of UT depts to submit fortnightly reports to adviser

Every fortnight, secretaries of departments of the Chandigarh administration will have to submit an action-taken report to the UT adviser regarding decisions taken in previous meetings.

UT adviser Dharam Pal said: “I have noticed that during meetings, I take decisions on different aspects of the administration, but these are then not taken up by the departments.” Pal said all decisions taken in meetings will be listed and secretaries will have to share the current status.

Notably, the adviser had in July set a 100-day road map for project completion. “We are continuously monitoring the pace of completion of works listed under the road map. Some of the listed works have already been completed or good progress has been made. The Intelligent Transport System (ITS) has been started and the digitisation and online system for the estate office has been initiated,” said Pal.

Central nod for regular meeting on UT’s issues

The ministry of home affairs has agreed to the request of the UT administration for regular meetings to take up various issues related to Chandigarh.

The administration recently formulated a list of issues of all the departments which are pending the Centre’s approval. It was also decided that UT adviser Dharam Pal will personally take up UT’s issues at different levels with different Union ministries.

Last week, Pal in his meeting with the MHA officials, took up issues like creation of posts in police department and allowing conversion of leasehold to freehold for commercial and industrial properties. “I asked them to organise special meetings for the UT Chandigarh, where we can discuss all the issues and speed up the process of decision making. They have agreed and we will now have more regular interactions,” said Pal.

Several policy initiatives by the UT administration have been stuck as the requisite approval of the Union government has been pending for several years.