Pinarayi Vijayan to focus on pending files; secretaries given charge

THIRUVANANTHAPRUAM: With the file movement in secretariat and other departments lagging despite announcements made to the contrary, a special effort is being made by government to clear the backlog within three months.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during his Facebook live the other day was confronted by people about the delay in file movement in various departments. He admitted that despite several initiatives the file movement had not picked up to the desired level.

It is in this backdrop that the government gave specific responsibilities to department secretaries to ensure the pending files are cleared in a record time. They have been asked to personally track the movement of files in their respective departments.

The Chief Minister said that special adalats would be organised by departments to clear the pending files. He said though the government after coming to power had taken several initiatives to expedite file movement, it takes time to change the system.

It may be recalled that a fortnight after occupying office, Mr Vijayan while addressing the government staff had stated, “you must understand that files coming before you have life: the lives of families and individuals. In each file you write a note; your jottings can make or mar the lives of people. While looking at each file we must realise that lives depend on what we write on it.”

The Chief Minister said the colonial system of file notings which was primarily meant to deny services to people is still continuing. “The negative file noting system has to be replaced by positive,” he said and added that the basic approach should be to help people.

The slow file movement has been causing innumerable problems to the people. One of the major delays in file movement was in Secretariat which was also pointed out by the Tenth Pay commission.