Inform CM, Chief Secretary before leaving place of posting: Gupta

Sanjay Gupta, who took the additional charge of Chief Secretary here today, said that the administrative secretaries and the head of departments would have to be punctual and inform the Chief Minister, ministers and the Chief Secretary before leaving the place of posting. He termed financial prudence and general discipline as his priorities.

“The Chief Minister has issued directions that files have to be cleared promptly. He 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 that Himachal was facing a financial crisis at present. “We will face financial troubles for the next five or six months and will have to work accordingly. However, the next two years will be financially favourable for the state,” he added.

He said that he would try and reduce the wastage of money and resources. “From my experience as the Chairman of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited, we can reduce our losses if we stop wastage in the government system,” he added.

Gupta said, “An organisation like the electricity board should have never incurred losses, but our officers allowed it to slip into the red. During my tenure as the Chairman of the electricity board, we turned the organisation around and earned Rs 500 crore in 15 months. We didn’t do anything special, just cut down the wastage.”

He said that he would focus more on the seven priority sectors chosen by the government – education, health, rural economy, tourism, hydroelectric power, natural farming and data storage. “We will try to be more liberal with funds in these sectors,” he added.

Gupta said that efforts would be made to get the pending financial assistance from the Central Government as early as possible.