KALYAN GOVERNMENT TOO HAD BEGUN SIMILAR EXERCISE

LUCKNOW: This is not for the first time when efforts to merge various government departments are being made in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, a proposal to this effect was mooted by the then Kalyan Singh government way back in 1999. The proposal, however, never materialized.

“The then Kalyan Singh government had proposed merger of around 82 government departments into 30 departments in a bid to make governance more effective apart from cutting establishment cost,” an official in the administrative reforms department told HT. For example, all the welfare departments like social welfare, women and child welfare, SC-ST welfare were proposed to be merged into one. So were all the engineering departments like the PWD, irrigation, rural engineering service etc. According to sources, the step was then taken under the pressure of the World Bank that had put certain terms and conditions for loan to the government, including pruning of various govt departments.

“The exercise, however, did not reach its logical conclusion as later on it was realised that doing away with small and insignificant departments will make it difficult for the government to send certain officials on punishment postings,” sources revealed.

The renewed move for the merger of various government departments is said to have been taken on the advice of the NITI Ayog. “The state’s planning department is probably preparing a proposal as per the NITI Ayog’s directions without much discussions with other departments here,” said sources. Sources, however, said it might not be possible for the present government too to merge over 90 departments because that would leave it with surplus IAS officers in the state. “What they may do is bring a group of similar departments under one ministry, like putting transport and PWD together. There may be separate HoDs and secretaries for transport and PWD as they are at present,” sources said.