“Had the civil administration been serious about the smooth working of the practices and procedures of public representation the need to issue an order for showing respect to the elected representatives and taking their demands of public welfare serious won’t have arisen at all.”
Government directing officers and officials holding responsible positions in the civil administration to respect elected representatives and accord high priorities to the proposals of public welfare newly elected MLAs pursue is Government offices show that public functionaries holding responsible positions in the civil administration don’t take care of public interests with greater sensitivities. In a way it can be said that officers and officials in civil administration show irresponsible response to demands of public welfare raised by elected representatives’ day in and day out. Had the civil administration been serious about the smooth working of the practices and procedures of public representation the need to issue an order for showing respect to the elected representatives and taking their demands of public welfare serious won’t have arisen at all. Since elected representatives of the District Development Councils (DDCs) and Block Development Councils (BDCs) besides the dissolved bodies of municipalities were already performing the duties of public representation since 2019, the newly elected MLAs should not have got the irresponsible response from the administration which finally forced the Government to issue an order from the General Administration Department (GAD). Such an irresponsible response to elected representatives from civil administration is not good for the growth of democratic institutions in any part of the country and same holds good for growth of democracy in Jammu & Kashmir. It seems that political accountability has been now re-established in Jammu & Kashmir. Since the circular has been issued by General Administration Department (GAD) last week in reference to the role MLAs play in governance it is quite clear that civilian administration was showing lackadaisical approach in dealing with the matters of public interest raised by the newly elected MLAs from time to time.
As Government has at last woken up to give due respect and regards to the newly elected MLAs to strengthen the practices and procedures of public representation, the responsible response of the officers and officials can now ease the process of the disposal of public demands in Government offices. As practices and procedures of public representations have been redefined through an order from the General Administration Department (GAD) a message goes out that the newly elected Government is conscious about its duties and responsibilities on public representation the strength of which lies in transparency and accountability.
By all standards of understandabilities it should not have taken four months for the Government to notice lackadaisical approach of the officers and officials in dealing with the newly elected MLAs. The GAD circular has in one or other way sent out a message that the elected representatives particularly new elected MLAs have a central role in both the decision making process and as well the program implementation. As Government has at last woken up to give due respect and regards to the newly elected MLAs to strengthen the practices and procedures of public representation, the responsible response of the officers and officials can now ease the process of the disposal of public demands in Government offices. As practices and procedures of public representations have been redefined through an order from the General Administration Department (GAD) a message goes out that the newly elected Government is conscious about its duties and responsibilities on public representation the strength of which lies in transparency and accountability.
