It has been nearly five months since YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power with a thumping majority in Andhra Pradesh.
Since Jagan is completely new to administration, it took some time for him to understand the style of functioning of bureaucracy.
He has been under the impression that since he is the chief minister, the bureaucrats will follow whatever instructions he gives.
But what he has not understood is that the IAS officers follow the rule books rather than blindly going by the instructions from the head of the government.
If the chief minister takes any wrong steps, it is the duty of the bureaucrats to explain to him as to what the mistakes are and how the decisions have to be taken.
They should be in a position to tell the chief minister as to why a particular decision cannot be implemented.
The business rules of the government clearly say who should what and in what time, a particular decision has to be implemented.
Apparently, many IAS offices are not able to follow what Jagan is intending to do.
He is keen on implementing Navaratnas, his nine promises made in the party manifesto, but the officials are still not able to understand his priorities.
So, they are sitting over the files sent from the CMO for days together without issuing any orders.
Realising that certain IAS officers are not cooperating with them, Jagan instructed that the business rules be changed to suit his style of functioning.
Apparently, Jagan was unhappy with the way the IAS officers are defying his orders, resulting in the delay in implementation of his own orders on implementation of various schemes and policies.
On Friday, CMO issued orders in order to set right the administration in tune with the CM’s style.
According to these orders, all files sent by the CM of his office through e-office to all special chief secretaries/ principal secretaries/ secretaries of respective departments are categorised into three types.
First set of files should be endorsed as out today (Issue order or take action on same day).
Second set of files are marked as ‘most Immediate,’ wherein GOs can be issued and action be intimated to the CMO in five working days and the third set of files which are marked immediate, which can be cleared within 15 days and orders be issued.
Officials failing to stick to these deadlines will face the action. The CM may recall the file to examine the reasons for the delay and may slap a show cause notice on the special chief secretary or principal secretary or secretary concerned.
The CM may authorise any other bureaucrat to issue the orders required.
This might trigger unrest in the bureaucrats, as it would curtail their powers to decide on when to issue GOs. It might also lead to clashes between the CMO and other IAS officials, say sources.