Though time will tell to what extent he would achieve his goals, the Chief Minister Harish Rawat's 'unconventional' way of functioning aimed supposedly at strengthening the public delivery system, unlike his predecessors, has attracted attention of many.
If earlier, the Chief Minister Rawat tried to endear himself to his electorate through public overtures like holding Assembly session for the first time outside the state capital in Gairsain this summer followed by a cabinet meeting in Almora, now he seems intent on stamping his difference on the matter of executing his government’s policies.
Under this process, departing from the existing system of functioning, Harish Rawat Government has decided to release funds allocated under district and state plans in advance in a single installment to the districts in place of releasing the same funds in tranches through many installments-a move that can be billed as a step to strengthen the public delivery mechanism.
As the officials concerned of the Udham Singh Nagar district administration informed, the Government has already released Rs 5565 lakh proposed under the district plan, out of which Rs 1492.35 lakh has already been allocated to different departments at the district level.
Similarly, an amount of Rs 9833.54 lakh proposed under the state sector, has also been released by the Government, out of which an amount of Rs 3532.72 lakh has been already been utilised by different departments at the district level, added the officials concerned of the Udham Singh Nagar district administration.
Similarly, according to the officials concerned of the Champawat district administration, the Government has already released the entire amount i.e. Rs 4377 lakh proposed under the district plan for the year 2014-2015.It is believed that the move will help expedite the development process and ensure timely utilisation of funds allocated under different heads like the district and state sectors, maintain the officials concerned of the Champawat district.
Mention worthy, it always remains a daunting challenge for any district administration to ensure cent percent utilisation of funds in the same financial year in the mountain nous state as the past experiences bear testimony to.
Though the move has not yet come under the lens of the media, the experts are convinced that arming the district administrative machinery with necessary resources would go a long way in ushering in development in a state like Uttarakhand where challenges like natural disasters spike the pace of development.More so, his recent decision to ban foreign trips of his ministers and other Government officials is also being lauded in many quarters as a step in the right direction of checkmating the trend of extravagance.