Rajasthan: With no ministers, files stacking up in departments

JAIPUR: As Sachin Pilot has been removed as the minister for rural development and panchayati raj and with no minister at the helm of affairs now, a large number of files pertaining to questions raised in the state assembly, transfer/postings and policy decisions are getting stacked up at the department, according to officials.
Pilot also held charge of Public Works Department (PWD). Apart from Pilot, Ramesh Chand Meena and Vishvendra Singh have also been removed as food and civil supplies and tourism ministers, respectively. According to officials, files are getting stacked up in these departments as well (PWD, food and civil supplies and tourism). Meanwhile, Pilot has sent all the files, marked to him, back to the departments.
When there is no minister in a particular department, the files are automatically marked to the chief minister, said officials. A senior official in the government said, “It does affect the functioning of a department when there is no minister in-charge. Most of the departments are waiting for the appointment of new ministers for clearance of the files. The government should have appointed new ministers in vacant posts immediately.”
“The files related to proposals to be sent to the finance department and DOP are usually forwarded to them after the approval of the minister. There is a Rs 66-crore watershed development fund, under which there will be a watershed bhavan (office and training centre) at every district headquarter. We cannot spend that money without the approval of the finance department. That file, too, has come back to the department from the former minister’s office,” said the official. “Also, files related to change in-service rules, up-gradation or creation of new posts, changing the guidelines/rules in the existing schemes/programmes or introducing new schemes are sent to DOP with the approval of the minister.”