Dehradun: Amid allegations that officials in Uttarakhand have been ignoring public representatives, Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan has issued a letter to all Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, the Director General of Police, heads of departments, and District Magistrates. The letter directs officials to ensure compliance with the privileges and protocol accorded to elected representatives.
The issue came to light during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s Privileges Committee, where cases were reported of officials not answering phone calls from Members of the Legislative Assembly, failing to invite public representatives to government programmes, and not providing timely responses to matters forwarded by the government. The committee expressed strong displeasure and treated the issue seriously.
Assembly In-charge Secretary Hemchand Pant wrote to Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan informing him about the discussions held by the committee. Following this, the Chief Secretary directed all concerned officials to strictly comply with instructions issued earlier.
The Chief Secretary made it clear that the prescribed protocol must be followed when dealing with public representatives and that time-bound action must be ensured on matters raised by them. Any negligence on the part of officials will be viewed seriously.
Meanwhile, the Congress has alleged that bureaucracy has become dominant in the state and questioned how elected representatives can be expected to receive due respect when officials themselves are allegedly ignoring instructions from their seniors.
The BJP rejected the Opposition’s allegations, saying that such complaints occasionally arise within the government system and that action is also taken against officials found negligent.
Following the Chief Secretary’s latest letter, greater administrative strictness is expected to ensure better coordination between officials and public representatives and compliance with the prescribed protocol.
