The 100th administrative meeting of the West Bengal government was conducted in style today.
Galaxy of stars
A host of dignitaries — social thinkers, bankers, economists, health-care experts, vice-chancellors, parliamentary leaders of political parties, editors, poets and artists — were present on the occasion. They were joined by cabinet ministers and bureaucrats at the 100th administrative meeting.
Anuradha Lohia, Vice Chancellor of Presideny University, said, “We have received immense cooperation and help from State Govt. We hope we will continue to receive the support and cooperation in future.”
Amitava Sarkar, Director of IISWBM, said that this meeting was a lesson in administration and management. He was echoed by Ajoy Kr Ray, Director of IIEST, Shibpur and Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay from Indian Statistical Institute.
Sharing his personal experience of how he has seen development at grassroots, economist Abhirup Sarkar said, “The fact that the entire Secretariat travels to districts is historic.”
Terming the 100th administrative review meeting historic, poet Subodh Sarkar said that he will never forget this experience.
Trinamool MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said this model of administrative review meetings was a lesson for not only the rest of India but the entire world.
Decentralised governance
The whole idea is to take stock of government’s delivery mechanism at the grassroots level and free-wheeling exchange of ideas among intelligentsia for greater good of the society in different spheres of life, said a senior state government official.
Such a decentralised approach for reaching out to the grassroots consistently is rare in India. Guided by Mamata Banerjee, government officials regularly go to the villages to monitor the performance of every department vis-a-vis the district-level demands. It helps solve problems faster and speeds up decision-making.
The presence of a large group of officials makes inter-departmental cooperation easier.
Reaching out to grassroots
WB CM Mamata Banerjee made it a routine to take the entire administration — right from the chief secretary and home secretary to departmental secretaries and police top brass — to the district where they meet the ground-level delivery system, including cops, regional transport officers, block level executives, agriculture officers and scientists. A lot of issues get resolved on the spot.
The delivery mechanism, has improved to such a level that some of the fiercest critics have clammed up. Several states now want to replicate the model for developing a better delivery mechanism.
