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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rolled out the programme at his first meeting with bureaucrats after taking charge on Thursday
The new Mahayuti government has vowed to deliver greater transparency, improved e-governance, and better coordination with the central government for funding, especially for its welfare schemes, all part of an ambitious ‘100-day transformation programme’ for the state.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rolled out the programme at his first meeting with bureaucrats after taking charge on Thursday.
At the meeting, attended by 35 bureaucrats who head key departments, Fadnavis said he would hold them personally responsible for their respective departments' failure to deliver on these goals.
He also said the government would set up two war rooms, one for infrastructure projects and the other for flagship programmes.
Underlining that welfare schemes were the need of the hour, Fadnavis said real-time monitoring with the central government for more funding was an important way to reduce the financial burden on the state exchequer, according to officials who attended the meeting.
The chief minister said the new government would push for e-governance and technology-enabled services, thus reducing footfalls in Mantralaya and government offices. He told the administration to appoint a committee of retired bureaucrats to frame the steps needed to achieve this goal.
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To promote transparency, Fadnavis has directed bureaucrats to make information relating to government departments accessible to the people. In addition, government websites must be made RTI-friendly, to ease the process of filing applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Government portals would also be upgraded to deliver accurate and timely information.
“A grievance-redressal system on the lines of the one operated by the PMO is the mantra of his transformation programme,” said a senior government official.
Fadnavis has set a timeline for rolling out the action plan: The war rooms would be set up by January 26; citizen-centric services within 60 days; a state-centre coordination mechanism within 30 days; and administrative reforms within 90 days. Among the long-term measures, technology integration has been allotted 120 days.
Fadnavis had said on Thursday during his swearing-in that the two and half years of the first Mahayuti government were the “T20£ and “50-overs matches."
“The Mahayuti 2.0 government has a Test match to play,” he remarked. He meant the bureaucracy must tread cautiously on the path of development and fiscal prudence, according to bureaucrats.
The law and judiciary department has been asked to secure speedy trials and outcomes in litigation that has halted promotions and recruitment in government jobs.
Fadnavis has also directed the administration to expedite the training of 1.5 lakh newly recruited government employees to deliver greater efficiency in services.
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Directing the revenue department to make effective use of blockchain for record-keeping, Fadnavis directed the administration to organise hackathons and bring together innovators, entrepreneurs and policymakers to develop innovative solutions.
The secretaries of various departments have also been asked to explore the setting up of online portals and mobile applications to deliver services and reduce turnaround time.
Fadnavis has underlined that government services must be made more accessible to citizens. While the previous Eknath Shinde government had launched a programme called ‘Government at Your Doorstep’, Fadnavis plans to initiate Janata Darbars and Lokshahi Din in various government offices.
(With inputs from Yogesh Naik)
