Districts to become fulcrum of administration: CM Himanta

 NEW DELHI: The Government of Assam is mulling a massive overhaul of the administration, making the district an administrative and economic unit. To give a major push in that direction, Chief Minister of Assam, Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma, held a preparatory meeting at the conference room of Assam House here for the forthcoming three-day DCs conference slated to be held in Tinsukia from May 12 to 14. The Chief Minister said the upcoming DCs conference will bring about a major transformation in the administration, with the Office of the Deputy Commissioner becoming a fulcrum of administration. "Unlike the traditional and conventional way of functioning, the DCs will henceforth focus on improving the GDP of their respective districts, GST generation, raising per capita income, power consumption, industrial activity, agricultural diversification, the creation of an industrial land bank, et cetera," he quipped. "As per the directive of the Prime Minister to the Chief Secretaries, the district has to become the focal point of administration. The DCs have to act as chief secretaries of their respective districts, with the state only facilitating it. It will be a model of decentralization of powers to the district administrative level," he added. The Chief Minister told the DCs that they have to become more active henceforth with greater responsibilities vested in them. "If a state has to forge ahead, then the districts must also have to pitch in equally to contribute to its overall growth and development. That is why the district has to be an administrative and economic unit," he quipped. The Chief Minister said that budgetary allocations will be made to prepare a roadmap for converting the districts into administrative units in the next six months.

Sarma underscored the need for the Deputy Commissioners to hold crime conferences, encore meetings to contain drugs, and other important issues such as the completion of Aadhaar enrolment prior to the DC's conference. The Chief Minister made it crystal clear that based on the performance of the DCs on different parameters, an assessment report will be made, which will form the basis of the Annual Confidential Report (ACR).

Sarma directed the DCs to comply forthwith with his instruction to visit at least 10 schools, hospitals, and anganwadi centres in their respective districts. The Chief Minister told the DCs that they have to give a detailed account of the work they have done following the DCs conference held in Tezpur, Diphu, and Bongaigaon. "Evaluation will be done on the basis of performance with plus and minus markings. And this will be part of the assessment for the ACR. Sincere efforts will be taken into account that may not translate into results. But no excuses or diversional tactics will be tolerated," he said.

The three-day upcoming DC's conference will have cluster-level meetings of six to seven DCs with senior secretaries, divisional commissioners, and guardian secretaries spread in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, and other places. A closed-door session will be held on the last day, where the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary, and the DGP will be present. The DC conference will discuss a gamut of issues, including the implementation of flagship programmes by state and central governments. The video conferencing was attended by Principal Secretary to the CM, Samir Sinha; Principal Secretary, Personnel, Niraj Verma; and Principal Resident Commissioner, Rajeev Chandra Joshi. A video conference with the SPs will take place here tomorrow, a press release said.

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