The Hindu : Karnataka News : Change style of working, officials told

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Change style of working, officials told

By Our Staff Reporter

The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, greeting the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah (left), before the two addressed senior bureaucrats in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE, MAY 29. The Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, today exhorted senior bureaucrats to change their style of working in order to implement the two manifestos of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), partners in the coalition Government, keeping in view the needs and aspirations of farmers and the poor.

Addressing senior government officers here, he told them that the days of single-party rule were over. There was a lot of difference in working under a Government headed by a single party and a coalition Government. The two parties had to work in coordination, keeping in mind the people's aspirations. The people had not given a clear mandate to any party. It was not important which party had bagged how many seats, but what the people wanted the parties to do. We fought against each other, but the changed circumstances forced us to work together, he said.

Drawing their attention to the "anti-incumbent verdicts" in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, apart from Karnataka, he said the people had rejected governments that had laid emphasis only on information technology and biotechnology. Measures had to be taken to provide relief to the poor.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said: "We claim that we are pro-people, but we should function in a manner that is appreciated by them. There is no need to repeat what we said earlier about the previous Government, but the issue now is to sincerely implement programmes to help the people. They voted for us with that hope that we would give an efficient and a responsive Government."

Elaborating on the issue, he said, "The people will get upset only when we, the coalition partners, do not work to their satisfaction and when the Government does not go to their rescue."

Citing the moves to introduce e-governance in the State, he asked whether it had improved the efficiency of the administration. Such technology would be of no use if there were no results, he said.

Criticising what he called manipulation of statistics by various departments, the Deputy Chief Minister said the previous Government had claimed that there was a 21 per cent increase in tax revenue. Then why were unpaid bills pending with the treasury, he asked.

He said the Government had failed to curtail wasteful expenditure towards which he had taken certain measures when he held the Finance portfolio. There were a lot of contradictions in the statistics and this called for introspection by the bureaucracy. He urged the officials to improve the system to produce tangible results. Otherwise, all that the Government wanted to do for the welfare of the people would amount to nothing, he said.

Indirectly criticising the previous Government for the poor implementation of drought relief works, he said when 40 per cent of the people were below the poverty line and had no food to eat, what was the use in claiming that the GDP had increased. He asked whether the GDP growth had helped the poor. There had been growth in the information technology sector, but what about the industrial and service sectors, he asked.

The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, who spoke earlier, asked the officials to work with commitment for bringing about a change in people's lives, which was the essence of the manifestos of the two coalition partners. He sought the cooperation of the officials in implementing development works to meet the expectations of the people.

The Chief Secretary to the Government, K.K. Misra, who welcomed the gathering, requested the two leaders to order fresh transfers as the transfer season (April-May) was coming to an end. Officials would be put to hardship if they were disturbed now. He also said that no junior official should be left without a posting.

V.K. Gore and Adhip Choudhury, Additional Chief Secretaries, and K. Jairaj, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, were present.

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