In a fresh SoP (standard operating procedure) for all government officers and employees, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the state government issued a circular on Tuesday over answering phone calls made by members of Parliament and the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, along with other elected representatives. The circular comes after repeated complaints from elected representatives made to the government about officials not responding to the phone calls and not being accessible, people aware of the developments said. As per the GAD circular, all government officials are directed to save numbers of MPs, MLAs, and other elected representatives like zilla or taluka panchayat presidents, municipalities, or mayors. "If they (politicians) call the officials on the landline numbers during office hours and under some circumstances, they are not available in their office or are in a meeting or busy in their work and not able to talk to the representatives, whenever this official returns to his office or gets free from his work should immediately return the call,” the directive states. The directive also states the government has published circulars from time to time to assist in the implementation of the working of elected representatives. It also states that if a personal assistant or private secretary of the official takes the call on the office number, they would have to keep a record of the phone call "which shall be brought to the attention of the official concerned as soon as he comes to the office". All the departments of the state government are directed to strictly and properly comply with the above instructions and also inform and issue necessary instructions to all heads of departments, officials under boards, corporations, and municipalities under their jurisdiction for the same. Two BJP leaders, an MP and MLA, who spoke to The Indian Express said they had not faced any such hassle with the government officials. The leaders, who did not wish to be named, further added that they were not aware of any such circular. As per the government website, the GAD's main objective is to "lay strong foundations for citizens and fulfill their expectations and gain trust by finding measures through effective and responsive administration". Additional Chief Secretary, GAD, Kamal Dayani, could not be reached for comment.
