Reasserting that it would be the Chief Minister and not the Lt. Governor who would run the day-to-day administration in the Union Territory, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Friday sent out a message to officials that he would not brook redtapism in the administration.
Chairing a high-level plan review meeting with Ministers and officials, Mr. Narayanasamy insisted that “files should not be delayed by officials in a small administration like Puducherry”.
The government’s thrust, as spelt out by the Chief Minister, concerned the efficient implementation of schemes relating to free rice, old age pension and Centralised Admission Committee (Centac) scholarships.
The Chief Minister urged officials to stick to the timelines in making available utilisation certificates to the Centre for grants.
The delay in furnishing utilisation certificates had attracted adverse attention of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the year ended March, 2016.
The audit found that in respect of the grants paid up to March 2015, 827 utilisation certificates for an aggregate amount of ₹225.33 crore were not furnished as of March 2016. The CAG report noted that the pendency ranged from one to more than nine years — a contravention of Rule 212 of the General Financial Rules that stipulates that for grants released during a year for specific purposes, utilisation certificates should be obtained by the officers within 12 months of the closure of the financial year. Mr. Narayanasamy called for more proactive approaches from his officers who, if need be, should go to Delhi and expedite approvals.
Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy sought a fresh survey to identify the poor segments and the extension of the midday meal scheme to ITI students.
Ministers Malladi Krishna Rao and R. Kamalakannan, Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, and Director-General of Police S. K. Gautam participated in the meeting.