'Officers must stay in city on weekends'

Lucknow: Cracking down on senior government officials travelling outside of Lucknow over weekends, chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar said this was not only "unacceptable" but also coming in the way of implementing the state government's development programmes.
In a first, Bhatnagar on Friday directed senior government officials to not leave station on Saturdays and Sundays, except to attend to unforeseen emergency situations.He said officials had a tendency to leave Lucknow on Friday afternoons, only to return on Monday, which was directly taking a toll on the implementation and review of government programmes. This, he ordered, must be stopped.
On Friday, Bhatnagar also said delivery of laptops to officials of rural development department and village panchayats will be completed by November 24, the chief secretary said.
Chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar was reviewing the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) of the panchayati raj department. He also directed officials to ensure fair and transparent utilisation of the Rs 118.59 crore sanctioned under RGSA for the state government's annual working plan 2016-17.
Bhatnagar said this amount should be used for training village heads, ward members and elected panchayat representatives to provide them information on working of panchayats. He also directed officials to hold state-level workshops to inform common people about the working of panchayats. Bhatnagar also asked officials to organise a seven-day exposure visit of elected panchayat representatives to other states like Kerala, Telangana and Jharkhand to apprise them about working of panchayats. He stressed on the need to function in a transparent and just manner as well as to ensure quality in executing government work.