COURSTEY THE TRIBUNE JUNE 10

Serving DCs laud move, retired babus see ‘plot’
Sushil Manav
Sushil Manav in Chandigarh

Bureaucrats have divergent views about the CMGGA programme. Those working in districts as deputy commissioners find it a wonderful experiment while some of those who have retired have a different take.
Ambala deputy commissioner Sharandeep Kaur, who has worked with three different CMGGAs, says the youngsters think differently and come out with out-of-the-box ideas. “The CMGGAs have been helpful in the day-to-day administrative works,” says Sharandeep.
Her Bhiwani counterpart Anshaj Singh says the biggest advantage with the CMGGAs is that they are young, well-educated and enthusiastic. “They are able to analyze things in a better manner.” Singh cites an instance. “One day I was shocked to find that district officials in the sports department did not have any idea about the availability of sports goods in the stadium. Our CMGGA worked on it and prepared the inventory management software. The sports department later asked all districts to replicate the experiment,” says Singh.
The CMGGA, Manish Kumar Jaiswal, has also come out with an innovative project of mentorship for schoolchildren. “Under the project, children are counselled on career options and then connected with a leading personality of the field of their choice,” he says.
Ashok Kumar Meena, Hisar deputy commissioner, says the CMGGAs are helpful in following up the steps taken by the administration. The CMGGA in his district, Harshali Dalal, has been working on smart classes project for school students, Meena said.
Pradeep Kasni, who recently retired as a senior IAS officer, alleged that the CMGGA initiative was the ‘handiwork’ of a particular lobby in the CM office. “It is both misconceived and dangerous from the point of view of governance. It is bad for the main stakeholder, the people of Haryana,” said. Kasni. He says nothing in the scheme is transparent though a lot of paper work has been done.
He likens the scheme to National Health Mission (NHM), where, he alleged, everybody is rewarded for good work even as a huge amount of money goes down the drain. Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, a retired IAS officer, says he is against the CMGGA initiative and says it amounts to diluting the authority of the deputy commissioners