Mantralaya’s got mail

All meeting intimations and information in all departments in Mantralaya, the Maharashtra government’s headquarters, will now only be on e-mail, reports Sayli Udas Mankikar.

All meeting intimations and information in all departments in Mantralaya, the Maharashtra government’s headquarters, will now only be on e-mail.

HT Image

This is expected to save the several thousand sheets of paper that are used by the 33-odd departments in the building.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan sent out an order on the first working day of the new government, saying all such communication will now only happen online, with no use of paper. The rule was first kicked off in his own office, which sends out meeting intimations only on e-mail.

In July, he shot off a request to all Mantralaya officials and ministers asking them to check their official e-mails for meeting notices and important correspondence, in an effort to move towards a paperless office.

But this was not taken very seriously, so the request has now become an order.

A government resolution (GR) issued on November 9, says all meeting intimations and information have been sent out on paper, but in addition to wasting time and paper, many times these written messages do not even reach the person they are intended for.

“To avoid both the delay and the wastage, the chief minister’s office will now send out all communication on meetings only on e-mail. Similarly, all departments should follow this procedure and send intimations for their internal meetings only on e-mail,” the GR, issued by the General Administration Department on behalf of the CM, says.

The GR adds that such intimation sent by e-mail must be the final intimation, and any written communication in addition to this will not be required.

In July, Chavan had also mooted an e-governance annual action plan through which every government department would extend all its citizen services via the internet.

Which meant services like land records, pension schemes, ration cards and business-to-consumer services like railway tickets, utility payments, banking and agriculture were to be made available online.