Our Bureau
Guwahati/Dibrugarh: In a bid to bring the people closer to the administration, the state government has taken several steps, of which two are noteworthy. One is the CM's Mini Secretariat at Dibrugarh, and the other is the Mini Secretariat at Silchar.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a review meeting on Friday with officials, MLAs, and ministers to chalk out a roadmap for setting up the CM's Mini Secretariat at Dibrugarh. The target is to start the Secretariat by August 15, 2024. In the meantime, the guest house of the Water Resources Department in Dibrugarh will be used as the Mini Secretariat. Once the Secretariat is started, the chief minister will sit there for two to three days a week and conduct his official work from there. The objective behind the move is to lessen the need for the people in Upper Assam and the North Bank to travel to Guwahati for their official work. Instead, the Secretariat of the Chief Minister is being moved there to bring the administration closer to the people.
Work on the construction of the Mini Secretariat in Silchar, which will cost Rs 135 crore, has already started. The objective behind setting up the Mini Secretariat at Silchar is similar to the one in Dibrugarh. The move will decrease the need for people in the Barak Valley to travel to Guwahati for official work, as there are constraints in communication. The Mini Secretariat is expected to start functioning within one year and will help bridge the gap between the people and the administration, which is the primary objective behind setting it up.
Official sources said that work on the scheme of setting up LAC-wise DC offices has started. At present, 30 DC offices are functioning for the 126 LACs in the state. As only 30 DC offices are functioning, people face a lot of problems getting their work done. So, with the setting up of the LAC-wise DC offices, the work of one LAC will be done within its area. People will not have to travel to a DC office in another LAC for their work. Also, each such DC office in the LACs will be headed by an additional district commissioner (ADC). The existing DC offices will function as supervisory offices instead of doing their usual administrative work.
Sources said work on amalgamation of departments of a similar nature and rationalization of employees to ensure optimum deployment has already started.
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