Haryana slow in adopting administrative reforms

For more than a year now,HARC has not had any regular chairman after the previous incumbent,former MLA Karan Singh Dalal,resigned last year to contest the Vidhan Sabha polls. For the last five months chief secretary of Haryana (retd) Prem Prashant has been the acting chairman of the commission. Earlier,for seven months HARC had remained headless. Other members of the Commission are D R Chaudhry,former chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission; R P Lather,former engineer in-chief,Irrigation department and D R Dhingra,a retired IAS officer.

The commission had been given a year’s extension after completing two years last year. It’s extended term will be over on December 12 and it has now sought another extension as it has to work on other reports including education,health,panchayati raj institutions and local bodies,technical education. etc. He had suggested reduction in number of districts from the present 21 to just 15 for better administration. The report had also suggested close monitoring of the government schemes.

Dalal had submitted his report two years ago in which he had suggested several changes in the present administrative set up to improve functioning. At the time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said the state government will consider the report after the submission of all the reports by the commission.

Dalal had suggested certain changes for achieving efficiency in government services. These included decentralisation of power by the government,fast computerisation of all state departments,speedier resolution of administrative issues and improving public dealings. But these suggestions have reportedly remained on paper so far.

However,Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav denied the government had neglected the report of the Administrative Reforms Commission. “The government is considering suggestions made in the first report of the Commission. We have set up a committee for this purpose consisting of a number of ministers including PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala,Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh and Haryana Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati,Finance Secretary Naresh Gulati and Secretaries of Home,Education,Urbn Local Bodies,Transport and legal advisor to the Haryana government,” said Capt Ajay Yadav.