PUNJAB CM ORDERS CRACKDOWN ON CORRUPTION, MAKES FILING OF CHARGE SHEETS AGAINST CORRUPT MANDATORY WITHIN 3 DAYS

Chandigarh, March 20, 2017: With a view to bringing in transparent and quality governance in the state, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday issued a series of stringent directions to the district administrative and police officers to crack down on corruption and ensure strict adherence to rule of law, setting a three-day deadline for filing of charge sheet against the corrupt.

Chairing a meeting of DCs and SPs here, Captain Amarinder asked them to ensure that rules are followed and to work according to statutory procedures. He urged the officers to go digital in order to speed up work and monitor delays,

Directing the officers to take quick and decisive action against the corrupt, he directed them to issue notice and charge-sheet promptly, within a maximum of three days. Asking them to be fair and to hear each party, while following due process, Captain Amarinder directed the officers to monitor the actions of their juniors and, at the same time, report their own actions to their seniors.

Observing that his government had decided, in its first cabinet meeting, to implement various measures to improve the delivery of public services and welfare of the government employees, the chief minister said he expected all district officers to get cracking immediately and ensure expeditious action for the welfare of the people. The impact of these changes, he said, should be visible in their public dealing.

The chief minister ordered a clean work culture to be imbued immediately in the seven main cutting edge officers dealing with the public, namely Sub Registrar, Tehsil, Sub-Division, Transport, Food and Supplies, Police Stations and Power Com. Officers should be present in their offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all working days, with tours to be announced on website and notice board.

Further, he said, appointment hours should be fixed and appointments should be given on phone or Web, and all applications should be scanned and followed up on computer. Reply should promptly be sent to the applicant on email, SMS or through post, within the RTS Act time limit.

The chief minister further directed that all registrations should be returned the same day, with refusal, if any, to be recorded in writing. All mutations would now have to be decided within seven days, and mutation application with full names and addresses of parties should be forwarded by Sub Registrars (SR) to Fard Kendra the same day.

In a bid to clean up the transport system, he ordered online payment of all transport taxes, with computerized recovery of arrears. All power connection applications should be made online, and pendency should be displayed on website and monitored by DC, the Chief Minister said.

Urging the officers to give the citizens their due respect, the chief minister directed them to ensure good seating, cooling, sufficient space and drinking water. Information boards, pamphlets, kiosks, counters should be provided to the public, along with assistance in filling up forms and applications and response through SMS.

Urging them to interact politely, and to be courteous and kind to the people, Captain Amarinder asked the officers to try and understand the problem of the taxpayer even if they could not immediately resolve it.