Following complaints of the MlAs about apathetic attitude shown by the bureaucrats, the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly Premchand Agarwal has shot off a letter to the State administration to look into the issue seriously. In the letter written on June 27 to the Chief Secretary, the Vidhan Sabha Speaker said that development was being adversely affected due to the senior administrative officers, including the District Magistrates, refusing to pick up calls from many of the MlAs. Terming it as a serious matter which warrants attention from the top brass of the state’s bureaucracy, the Speaker said that such attitude on the part of the officers towards the lawmakers is unacceptable. He wrote that it was understandable that the officers might be busy with meetings and the like when the calls are made. But it is expected that the same officers would call back when they have time, the Speaker is said to have written in the missive.
linking the issue with development of the State, the Speaker asked the CS to issue clear directions to the officers on the matter so as to ensure that the public representatives do not face problems.
Interestingly, the State administration took 19 days to respond to the letter of the Speaker. On July 16, the additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi directed all ACS, principal secretaries and secretaries to take notice of the concern raised by the Speaker and to act accordingly.
When contacted for comment on the matter, the chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said that the officers of the state administration and DMs should give due importance to the issues raised by the public representatives.