BANGALORE: The Government is planning to introduce legislation to make government officials speed up the clearance of files, Law Minister H.K. Patil told presspersons here on Monday.

Happy with having cleared 39,000 files after processing 42,050 files in the Law Department in eight months, the Minister said his experience prompted him to consider introducing legislation making it mandatory for officials to clear the files in a fixed timeframe. The Bill will be tabled in the next session of the legislature.

The Minister said he set a target of 100 days on January 12 when there were 35,014 files pending clearance in the Law Department. In 200 working days, the department processed and cleared the files. There are now only 2,914 files pending.

The department has also been successful in using Kannada in administration. Arrangements have been made to print 168 forms such as arrest warrants, letters to witnesses, complainants and accused in Kannada, which would prompt courts to increase correspondence in Kannada, he said.

A website has been launched where the public can monitor the movement of files. Lok adalats have been established in six districts and. Apart from the State Human Rights Commission, human rights courts have been established in all the districts, Mr. Patil said. Guidelines on filing appeals in land acquisition cases have been formulated and farmers need not go to court unnecessarily. Guidelines have also been issued fixing a fair price for acquired land.

Marginal and small farmers are being given free legal aid. A decision has been taken to withdraw cases against farmers, and 26 such cases have been withdrawn. Similarly, cases filed against some persons after the murder of the former Minister H. Nagappa have been withdrawn, he added.

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