Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on Thursday set the deadline of October 15 for the Secretaries of all departments to issue government orders and implement the remaining announcements made by the government during 2021-22 and 2022-23. He also called for better coordination between the Ministers and their departments.
He reviewed the implementation of the schemes at a meeting of the Secretaries of all departments in Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai.
The Chief Minister noted that of the 1,634 announcements made during 2022-23, government orders were issued in respect of 937 announcements (accounting for 57%), and they have been implemented. As for the 1,680 announcements made during 2021-22, orders had been issued for all, except for 100, and 94% of them were implemented.
“I hear that even coordinated action between Ministers and officials are missing in some departments on certain occasions. ...it should never happen in any department under any circumstances,” Mr. Stalin said.
Pointing to the “unnecessary delay” in implementing the announcements made by various departments, Mr. Stalin said, “This should be avoided. It is true that one should think and act. But one cannot keep on thinking.”
Acknowledging the financial crunch, Mr. Stalin instructed the officials to prioritise announcements before sanctioning the outlay. Referring to the criticism of some departments in the mainstream media and social media, he advised the officials to exercise caution while implementing schemes.
He pointed to “lack of coordination” between various layers of the bureaucracy and underlined the need for them to work together. He also requested the Chief Secretary to offer suggestions at regular intervals to senior officials appointed as monitoring officers in districts.
Though programmes were designed by various sources, the responsibility of implementing them rested with the Ministers and the Secretaries of the departments concerned, he said.
The Chief Minister also underlined the significance of synergy between departments.
