CHANDIGARH: Haryana Governance Reforms Authority is yet to become functional seven months after it was set up by the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in a bid to improve governance and cut corruption in the state. Notified in January this year, the reforms body was tasked with suggesting changes in rules and procedures to improve the quality of governance, development programmes and schemes of the state government, and to make delivery of services “harassment and corruption-free”.
Chief Secretary DS Dhesi issued the three-page notification on January 4, stating that the order to set up HGRA was issued with the chief minister’s approval “in anticipation of approval of the finance department and the council of ministers.” However, the council of ministers only gave ex-post facto approval on June 1, almost six months after the authority was formed. Following this, the chief secretary’s office took over 26 days to write and dispatch a two-line letter to all administrative secretaries officially informing them of the Cabinet nod.
Sources said the file is now stuck in the finance department whose nod is required to begin the process to get various approvals for setting up the reforms body's office in the civil secretariat and allocating staff to make its functional. Upset over the bureaucratic deadlock, the HGRA chairperson wrote a letter to the CM. A source said, “The letter politely reminds the government about the delay and that how the Cabinet gave its approval six months after the notification was issued. The letter also lists recommendations the panel had made thought it was yet to get basic facilities like office and FD's approval.”
Prof Pramod Kumar, Director, Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) Chandigarh, is the HGRA Chairperson, Justice BB Parsoon (retd) and former Haryana Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery are vice chairpersons. Other members include DR KK Talwar, former director of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Harbhajan Singh, IAS officer (retd), former Punjab DGP SK Sharma and DR Rainuka Dagar of the IDC.
