Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that the State Government officers and employees should win the hearts and minds of the citizens with their dedication and prompt action on the duties assigned to them.
He urged the officials to be sensitive and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the citizens.
The officers should not behave in an arrogant and offensive manner and try to solve the grievances in an efficient and amiable manner.
They should speak in the language which the visitor to the office understands and the citizen should feel at home in the offices, the Chief Minister stated.
Singh was speaking at the Induction Training Programme of the Government employees of five districts at the Nimora-based Chhattisgarh Administrative Academy near Raipur.
The Chief Minister stressed upon the citizen-centric administration by the State Government officers. The State Administrative Academy with the co-operation of the Central Government's Department of Personnel and Training had organized the training programme for Rural Agriculture Extension officers, Sub-Engineers, Senior Engineers, Office assistants, office superintendents, Steno-Typists,writers and data entry operators.
The employees from five districts participated mainly- Raipur, Mahasamund, Durg, Baloda-bazar, Batapara and Dhamtari. About 180 officers and employees participated in the Induction Training Programme.
Singh said that there are two types of officers who are in direct touch with the masses and ground realities. The local citizens are happy if certain kinds of officers/employees are transferred and they celebrate by bursting crackers and the other type are those on whose transfers locals feel dejected and express their displeasure. It depends on the officers/employees on which side they want to be.
The Chief Minister expressed happiness over the conduct of training programme and added that it is a continuous process to learn and update knowledge.
Singh said that he also visited lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration which trains IAS officials and had undergone training there for some days.
Fast changes are taking place all over the globe in almost all fields and the officers also have to keep abreast of the scenario. We have to be updated on a daily basis. Anybody who thinks he is ‘Mr Know-all’ can then presume that his downfall is round the corner, he said.
Officials and employees should not lose their cool in any situation, especially while listening to grievances of the people. The officials/employees who have this ability are indeed good officials/employees, the Chief Minister said.
In the same sequence, Singh gave example of his Jandarshan programme while saying that every week he meets nearly 2500 people for about 4-5 hours. Many a time people show their dissatisfaction over delay in redressal of their grievances. But he makes best of the efforts to explain them about the situation and assure them of his support.
District Collectors also meet people during Jandarshan. Singh said “We have direct interaction with people and we easily come to know about what all is going on in different parts of the area. Amid the public, we get to know about ground reality of schemes.’
The Chief Minister said that the Chhattisgarh Government has taken the first of its kind innovative step like 'Gram Suraaj Abhiyan'.
As Chief Minister, I got the opportunity to pay surprise visits to different villages and interact with people under shade of tree, to learn about their demands and needs, he said.
Many of the State Government's schemes are result of Gram Suraaj Abhiyaan. Feedback received during Gram Suraaj has helped us to make public distribution system of Chhattisgarh best in the country, Singh said.
He said that there are many schemes in Chhattisgarh for poverty alleviation and upgrading living standard of people, to implement which is the responsibility of government officials and employees. It is their duty to ensure participation of public and community in implementation of these schemes.
Singh said that if Chwwki block of Rajnandgaon district has got the status of first open-defecation free block of Chhattisgarh under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean India Mission, then the credit for the same goes to local women self-help groups, participation of people of the block and also the officials of District Administration there, who made collective efforts for the cause.
He said that he has given strict instructions to departments concerned to ensure that report of each of the construction work should be made in simple Hindi language so that Panch-Sarpanch of rural areas may also understand it easily.
Officials have been directed to strictly comply with the given instructions, Singh said.
At the outset, Director General of Chhattisgarh Academy of Administration DS Misra delivered welcome address and threw light on objectives of the Induction Programme.