Southern States
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Andhra Pradesh
Development works: Naidu keen on roping in RDOs
By Our Special Correspondent
HYDERABAD, NOV. 30. The Government is toying with the idea of having development officer with the Assembly segment or 5 mandal areas as a unit to oversee and coordinate development works in the area.
The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, who put across the idea at the Collectors conference here on Friday, felt that with the workload for revenue divisional officers (RDOs) no longer as heavy as in the past, this responsibility could be entrusted to them.
Mr. Naidu said it could initially be tried as pilot project in each region and then extended to cover the rest of the State.
He called upon Collectors to evolve Vision 2020 plans specific to their districts and correlate it with the State Vision plan. GSDP growth rate, per capita income and contribution of different sectors to the GSDP at the district and State level could be worked out.
In addition to the various performance indicators to measure development, Mr. Naidu wanted another important parameter, public satisfaction, to be considered.
In an informal chat later with reporters, Mr. Naidu said progress or development, however significant, had little meaning if it did not leave the people satisfied and content.
Surveys would be carried out by independent and reliable agencies to assess ``public satisfaction'' so that it could become a measurable yardstick for performance.
In order to motivate Government employees to do better, he was planning to institute ``seva awards'' to people turning out outstanding performance. It would cover Government employees from the Chief Secretary down to the lowest ranked employee, politicians and NGOs.
In a presentation titled, ``Governing for results:half-yearly performance review,'' Mr. A. K. Parida, Secretary, Planning, said the 6.5 per cent growth rate of economy recorded by Andhra Pradesh was among the highest in the country, above the national average of 5.30 per cent. In 2001-02, it was projected at 8 per cent.
Of the Rs 35,822 cr budget outlay, Rs 10,269 crores was released for the first half of the year and Rs 9172 crores already spent, considered a ``very good achievement'' compared to other States, Mr. Parida said. Development expenditure accounted for 37 per cent of the budget and interests and ways & means 31 per cent while the share of establishment bill was 32 per cent.
The Chief Minister asked the Collectors not to neglect revenue receipts, but try to tighten revenues and plug leakages.
While appreciating the West Godavari Collector, Mrs. Poonam Malakondaiah's presentation, the Chief Minister asked her to formulate district vision plan and build a team to implement it. The Collector should not concentrate only on one or two sectors or departments to the relative exclusion of others. ``Don't get bogged down. Provide leadership,'' that was his message. He said the district administration should not gloat over its achievements and feel ``everything is fine.'' Instead of viewing things in isolation, a complete perspective was necessary. In a subtle reminder, he said the average growth rate of the district in the past 5 years was 4.99 per cent while the State average was 5.52 per cent.
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