Desperate to improve its battered image,the government has directed top bureaucracy to identify key measures related to good governance and anti-corruption,with a monitoring mechanism to track implementation. The Cabinet Secretary,the senior most civil servant,has held meetings with secretaries of various ministries and departments in a bid to re-energise them to carry on the governments development agenda. Sources said the meetings were held on the advice of Prime Ministers new Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji. Recent scams have made the bureaucracy extra cautious in dealing with even routine administrative issues. Cabinet Secretary A K Seth is believed to have stressed that this sense of paralysis must not continue. Each of the secretaries has been asked to identify at least two areas which can improve governance and reduce corruption. The measures they suggest have to be implemented immediately and the secretaries have to report back to the Cabinet Secretariat within a month. They have also been asked to quicken the pace of decision-making,especially as regards the governments development agenda. It is hoped this would also help divert public attention away from the scams. A review of the steps taken to improve governance and reduce corruption is planned next month. At that time,the government also plans to unveil a basket of measures,from amongst these,that would be implemented across the board. These measures are likely to include the legislative initiatives the government has been planning as part of its anti-corruption strategy including the Lokpal Bill and the judicial accountability Bill.
