The Yogi Adiyanath government in Uttar Pradesh will soon launch an ‘Officer Desk System’ in the state to expedite file management and ensure transparency in the disposal of files.
The Uttar Pradesh government is following the practices of the Narendra Modi led central government, which has set up 623 desk units across 40 ministries. The Desk Officer System was introduced as part of administrative reform initiated by the Modi government.
Under the Desk Officer System, an officer is appointed as the nodal body, with wide autonomy in his work. The desk officer at the central level could be either a section officer or an under secretary level officer who functions according to the power delegated by the ministries and departments. These powers could be like signing financial sanctions, affirming affidavits in court, handling confidential papers, etc.
Proposed Officer Desk System in Uttar Pradesh
- The Uttar Pradesh government will categorise departmental responsibilities within the state secretariat into routine and regulatory functions.
- The Officer Desk System will only be for regulatory functions.
- At the departmental level within the secretariat, each desk unit will have a Special Secretary, Joint Secretary, Personal Secretary and Assistant Personal Secretary.
- The Officer Desk System will be implemented phase wise. In the first phase, it will be deployed in 20 departments of the state secretariat.
Potential benefit of the Officer Desk System
- It will ensure quick and timely disposal of regulatory tasks within the various secretariat departments.
- In the present system, the files have to go through the departmental sections within the secretariat before it is presented to the higher officials.
- The delay due to the movement of files leads to corruption and wastage of resources.
Uttar Pradesh Governor :Anandiben Patel