Be punctual, inform Chief Minister, ministers and CS if travelling: Sanjay Gupta to top Himachal officers

Terming financial prudence and general discipline as his priorities, Sanjay Gupta, who has been given the additional charge of chief secretary, on Friday said that administrative secretaries and directors would have to come to the office on time and would have to inform the Chief Minister, Ministers and Chief Secretary if they are going out of town.

“The Chief Minister has also issued directions to clear the files promptly. The CM has asked me to do a review in 15 days or a month and inform him who is not working. I will personally set an example for my colleagues,” Gupta said while assuming the additional charge of Chief Secretary.

On the financial health of the state, Gupta said the state was facing a financial crunch at the moment.

“We will face financial troubles for the next five to six months, and we will have to work accordingly. However, the next two years will be financially favorable for the state,” said Gupta.

The acting Chief Secretary said that he would try to stop the wastage of money and resources. “From my experience as chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited, if we can stop wastage in the government system, it will help us cut down the losses,” he said.

“An organisation like the electricity board should never have gone into losses, but we and our officers killed the golden goose. The power sector should not suffer losses. In the electricity board, we turned the situation around and earned Rs 500 crore in 15 months. We didn’t do anything special, just cut down the wastage,” said Gupta.