The offices of many public authorities in the national capital are scattered. They should be brought under the same roof to reduce overhead expenses
It is a fact that many the offices of many public authorities in the national capital are scattered all over the place. With proper planning, they can all be brought under a single roof. Better coordination and understanding between various public authorities in larger national and public interest is required. This will also help improve work efficiency, apart from reducing unnecessary overheads like those spent in man-hours and on conveyance.
For example, the Ministry of External Affairs should make full use of its newly constructed spacious office building — the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan. It should shift all its offices from the South Block and elsewhere to this centralised place. The vacated space in the rear end of South Block can then be utilised by the Prime Minister's Office, which presently has to run its public-dealing units from Rail Bhavan. This will also take care of the security aspects as required by the main PMO. Such a move will result in better work efficiency. It will also save some valuable time of the officers and other staff members of two important Government departments. Currently, these individuals have to run between scattered offices for meetings and other official business.
likewise, the Central Information Commission is also working from two different premises — August Kranti Bhavan and the Old JNU Complex. The CIC is still waiting for its own building. The construction of this building is yet to start. A major portion of the second floor of the August Kranti Bhavan is its main office where most of the proceedings of the Central Information Commissioners are conducted. August Kranti Bhavan is a large building complex with various wings. Many of its rooms, including on the second floor of the building, are either locked or unused. For smooth functioning of the CIC, the concerned Government agency — the Housing and Urban Development Corporation limited — should allocate the entire second floor of the August Kranti Bhavan to the CIC. This will enable the CIC to shift its offices from the Old JNU complex to August Kranti Bhavan.
August Kranti Bhavan was constructed by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation limited, a public sector undertaking, at Bhikaji Cama Place in New Delhi. Ever since the building was constructed, the ground floor has been locked and vacant, apart from a few shops there. It is a gross waste of public resource when rental rates in nearby buildings are sky high. Hudco should take measures to better utilise this complex that was built at a huge cost to the public. Presently, expenses are shooting up because unoccupied shops on the ground floor are being converted into office complexes without any proper planning. Hudco, in coordination with Union Ministry of Urban Development, should either allot, rent, lease or sell the floors of this building.
Public bodies should be re-allocated in the manner in which the Chakbandi was re-allocated for farmers in the recent past. The farmers were allocated one unified field rather than scattered pieces of land. It is also observed that many office areas, taken on rent by many public authorities, are either vacant or under-occupied even after huge amounts of money had been spent on furnishing these offices, apart from recurring expenditure in the form of rent. Proper planning for re-allocation of offices can even result in huge savings as public authorities can then avoid rented offices in private properties.Union and State Governments as well as other public authorities should no more develop housing complex for employees. It is much economical to pay a housing allowance to the employees instead of spending money on housing complexes.