CHENNAI: Ever had to trace out a government order to support your claim? Or, worse, an amendment to an order?

"The collective memory of the Secretariat is so short that it is impossible to trace any amendment to an act, rule or an order," says an official. "Only the head of department and the Collector will have a copy each. More often than not, a file or proposal is held up or sent back to a district just so that a copy of the relevant order is enclosed. This has severely affected the efficiency of all departments."

When Rural Development Department officials brought the issue to the notice of Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin, he suggested that the department set an example by compiling all acts, rules and orders and also amendments to these.

"The Minister told us on New Year's day. We completed the job in two months," informs the official.

The result is a compendium of amendments to acts and rules and government orders for 2006.

A copy of the compendium was given to all district panchayat heads and also panchayat union chairmen who were in Chennai to attend a function last week. The department is sending a copy to all village panchayat presidents, as also district officials and other departments and organisations involved in rural development.

This is not the end. The department has taken up the work on the orders and amendments for 2005 too. "This will be an annual publication now and is in line with the Government's idea of transparency in governance. Only a few orders relating to personnel issues will be left out. This should be seen as a first step towards setting up a knowledge management system," says the official.

The Rural Development Department and the Municipal Administration Commissionerate (CMA) have also taken up the task of compiling details of elected representatives across the State and bringing out a directory that will have details such as telephone numbers, party affiliation and address.

The directory, brought out by the CMA, has listed all 4,600 elected representatives in Corporations (except Chennai, which does not come under it), municipalities and town panchayats. It also features photographs of all representatives.

"It was a huge exercise in which about 50 staff members of the department spread across the State were involved. We had to match too many details and the proof went back and forth," explains an official involved in the project.

The Rural Development Department directory has 13,000 entries and contains details of all the village panchayat presidents, union office-bearers and elected functionaries in districts.

The department has also released three training handbooks for elected representatives at each level of governance.

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