By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 27 Aug: Bureaucrats in Uttarakhand have once again come under scrutiny over allegations of not responding to phone calls from elected representatives, despite repeated directions in the past to ensure that the protocol and privileges of legislators are duly respected. The issue has surfaced yet again after the Assembly Privileges Committee expressed serious concern over several such instances.
The issue has now led Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan to issue directions to the senior officers, including the Principal Secretaries, the Secretaries, the Director General of Police, the HODs and the DMs. Bardhan has directed the officers through a letter addressed to all the concerned to ensure strict compliance with the instructions issued earlier and not to show any laxity in dealing with the elected public representatives.
It may be recalled that the issue of alleged indifference by the bureaucracy towards elected representatives has surfaced on several occasions in the past too in Uttarakhand. In this regard, Assembly Speaker, Ritu Khanduri Bhushan also had issued strict directions from the floor of the House in the past. On some occasions, stern warnings have also been issued to the officials, reminding them to follow the protocol applicable to the MLAs in the state. However, after the issue remains in the news for some time, the situation often returns to the earlier position and the officials again stop picking up calls from the MLAs and other elected representatives.
The latest action has followed in view of a letter sent by Assembly In-charge Secretary Hem Chandra Pant to Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan, informing him about the discussions held during a meeting of the Assembly Privileges Committee. According to the letter written by Pant, several cases and complaints have emerged in which the officials allegedly failed to respond to phone calls from elected representatives and also did not invite them to government programmes. It may be recalled that there is a protocol in place to invite at least the local MLA to the government events and functions irrespective of the party affiliation of the reporter.
Pant’s letter also reminds that the replies to matters referred by the Government are not being provided to the Privilege Committee within the stipulated time. The Privileges Committee has taken serious note of these issues and stressed the need for corrective action.
Following the Assembly communication, the Chief Secretary has written to all the Principal Secretaries, the Secretaries, the DGP, the HODs and the DMs in which he has directed them to ensure that such instances are not repeated and that earlier instructions regarding the privileges and protocol of elected representatives are strictly followed.
Reacting to the issue, Congress State spokesperson Amendra Bisht alleged that the bureaucracy had become dominant in the functioning of the Government. He said, “The bureaucracy is behaving casually even on serious matters. When officials are not complying with the directions of their own seniors, expecting elected representatives to receive due respect is futile.”
BJP leader Mathura Datt Joshi rejected the Opposition’s allegations, saying that such issues occasionally came to light in the functioning of the Government and that action was regularly taken against officials found guilty of negligence.
