Ever since chief secretary Sudhansh Pant has joined, he has been busy inducing good governance in system. He is keeping it simple. Besides taking regular review meetings with secretaries to track and monitor the progress, he is stressing on punctuality and transparency.
A day before Republic Day, department of personnel issued a four-point directions for all officials to ensure good governance.
The DoP has directed all officials to reach office on time i.e 9.30 am and leave not before 6.30 pm.
The officials have been restrained from roaming around in garden or in the corridors of secretariat during office time. They have been instructed to be on their respective seats and carry out desk work except during half an hour lunch break specified as 1.30 pm to 2 pm.
The DoP has also directed officials to refrain from taking unsanctioned leaves apart from health reasons or emergency circumstances.
The department has also directed officials to dispose all paper under consideration (PUC) and files on time without any pendency.
The DoP has warned officials of stern disciplinary action on non compliance of directions.
Sudhansh Pant had bad experience in Congress government
The chief secretary Sudhansh Pant has always been considered an efficient and honest officer. He earned great credibility during his stint as Jaipur collector. Even after 19 years, people remember his good work.
He went for central deputation in 2014 and worked in two departments – pharmaceuticals and health and family welfare – as joint secretary. There also he did exceptional work. So much so that, the central government requested Rajasthan government for his services on temporary basis during Covid period when Pant had repatriated and was working as principal secretary forest and environment.
He went to work in union health ministry in March 2020 and returned Rajasthan in January 2021 to join PHED department as additional chief secretary. But from January 2021 to November 2022, he had tough time working in Rajasthan government. His transparent working go well with PHED, which was later found to be den of corruption related to Jal Jeevan Mission. ED is investigating the case in which the central agency has conducted raids on his successor senior IAS officer Subodh Agarwal and PHED minister Mahesh Joshi.
“People now realise why Pant didn't stay for long in PHED department and was transferred in less than a year,” said a senior IAS officer.
Pant was later given two insignificant postings. Following which he went again on central deputation.
“In his last stint with Rajasthan government, Pant had come to know about the pain points of governance. Now he is trying to plug the gaps and make system efficient and transparent. Punctuality is the first step towards that,” the officer said.
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