Itanagar, Feb 11: Chief Minister Pema Khandu has reiterated that the state government is committed to empower government officials, especially those working in the district administration.
He observed that the role of Deputy Commissioners in realizing the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Arunachal’ by 2047 as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cannot be overstated.
“As the chief administrative officers at the district level, Deputy Commissioners are the backbone of governance and development in Arunachal Pradesh. Strengthening districts are crucial for improving last-mile citizen service delivery,” he added.
Terming government officials, especially those in the districts, as the “real” backbone of governance, Khandu said: “If they work towards evolving solutions instead of rueing on problems, accelerated development of the state and the society can be a reality.”
Addressing a review meeting at the East Siang district headquarters, Pasighat today, Khandu said that the council of ministers and MLAs are mere policy makers but the government officials are the ones who execute these policies on ground. The success of a government depends on the honesty, sincerity and efficiency of government employees.
“We (politicians) are temporary. You (government employees) are permanent. We will come and go in five years but you will serve the people for more than 30 years. So, your role in development of the state and welfare of the people becomes significant,” he said.
Khandu informed that the government is introducing bottom-up planning involving preparation of district-level vision and development plans for which DCs will have a major role to play.
He further informed that the government-appointed Guardian Ministers and Mentor Secretaries will hold review meetings in the respective allotted districts with all stakeholders and submit their reports to the government.
“Our objective will be to pinpoint the exact problems and needs of each district and identify the key areas to prioritize,” Khandu added.
Referring to the recently held conference of the deputy commissioners at Itanagar, Khandu cited the six thematic themes of the conference and asked the officials to execute schemes and programmes with these themes as the foundation. The themes are Sundar Arunachal, Samridh Arunachal, Shikshit Arunachal, Swasth Arunachal. Surakshit Arunachal, and Swachh Arunachal.
Talking about Pasighat, the oldest town of the state with a history of more than 100 years, the Chief Minister assured that the government will not withhold any step to develop the city into one of the top cities in the state.
He called for cooperation and unity amongst all irrespective of political or other affiliations. “When it comes to development of our state and welfare of our people, we stand united as Team Arunachal,” he added.
During the meeting, all flagship schemes of the state and central government as well as other ongoing developmental projects in the district were reviewed by the CM. The meeting was attended by district MLAs Oken Tayeng and Tabit Darang, BJP State president Kaling Moyong, Chief Councillor of Pasighat Municipal Council, DC, SP, and head of departments.