Behind infectious smile of Rajasthan Chief Secretary V Srinivas, there is an astute bureaucrat who knows how to get work done. In last 8 months of his tenure as top boss of Rajasthan bureaucracy, Srinivas led his team well and achieved remarkably in rolling the ball for good governance. His hard work and deep understanding of governance won him extension another six months, where his task is cut out.
He has been instrumental in maintaining a delicate balance between service delivery and public expectations. His tenure is being regarded as ‘no noise, more work'.
The BuckStopper analyses Srinivas' V factor that contributed exceptionally well for the state. Without straining the system, Srinivas easily completed the mandate he was given while taking over as Chief Secretary.
Public Grievance Redressal
V Srinivas is a sensitive officer. When he joined he saw immense pendency in resolution of complaints registered at 181 Helpline Sampark Portal. He immediately alligned 35 top officer in the ranks of Secretary to Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) rank, to attend complaints at the 181 Call Centre. He made it mandatory for them to visit Call Centre in the Secretariat on different days and attend at least 10 calls. He also asked them to provide on the spot resolutions.
This was for the first time in the history that senior officers were handling complaints directly through Call Centre. That worked well for the state resulting reduction in pendency and a much alert system to address public grievances effectively.
Bringing top conferences to Rajasthan
V Srinivas is credited to have brought top national and global conferences to Rajasthan for the first time. These included National Conference on e-Governance and Videsh Sampark – State Outreach Conference which were held for the first time in Rajasthan. Srinivas was instrumental in brining these two annual conferences to Rajasthan.
The National Conference of e-Governance is organised jointly by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). Srinivas was Secretary in DARPG before joining Rajasthan as the Chief Secretary. It was totally his efforts to make Rajasthan the host state.
Similarly, Videsh Sampark – State Outreach Conference was also organised by the Ministry of External Affairs at his behest.
Apart from that, Rajasthan also hosted BRICS session as part of the mega event under the chairship of India this year. Jaipur hosted Industry Ministers' Meeting and Tourism Working Group sessions.
These global conferences not only helped Rajasthan gain significance but also helped in boosting tourism in the state. This will have long term impact on the economy of the state.
Close Coordination with Centre
The strongest point of Srinivas is his strong connection with Secretaries at centre. His influence has helped Rajasthan resolve centre-state issues as well as inter-state problems. Srinivas helped in timely release of funds for centre funded schemes and projects. On his visits to New Delhi, Srinivas would meet Secretaries of different departments putting Rajasthan on top of their minds. He is among few Chief Secretaries in the country who believe in ground breaking.
Easy Accessibility
Srinivas is considered as public Chief Secretary. His doors are open for one and all. If he is in the office and not busy in meeting, anyone can meet him without any protocol. He listen to people's problems and provide them with immediate solutions.
Even IAS officers of any rank are comfortable meeting him and sharing practical problems with him. This has improved in delivery mechanism. Srinivas is also known to conduct review meetings at regular interval to put officers on toes. He has promoted e-filing in a big way and the average time n clearing the file has come down drastically.
Alok Mathur is a law graduate. Journalism is his first love which he now pursues in the latter half of his career. Controversies and crime are the right triggers for him.
