MHA cracks whip on babus

Aug. 19: Cracking the whip, home minister P. Chidambaram has asked ministry babus to undertake visits to states every ‘’three months’’ to monitor the implementation of various Central schemes and acquaint themselves with the ground realities. The home ministry, in an office memorandum dated August 12, said that 19 nodal officers , who are joint secretaries in the ministry, have been given charge of various states, and will be responsible for furnishing reports after reviewing the progress of governmental schemes aimed at strengthening the internal security set-up in the country.
The nodal officers have been directed to prepare, update and maintain a profile of the states and UTs allocated to them and also liaise, as and when necessary, with them in emergent situations. The order, previously issued on November 20, 2008, has been rectified to fix the specific time frame of quarterly visits by the ministry officials concerned.
As the states affected by Left-wing extremism and North-east states grappling insurgency have been found lagging on various fronts, the move is aimed at plugging the loopholes and ensuring better coordination with the states. The ministry officials said that the step will also ensure that the Centre , especially the home secretary, has a window open in other states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Among the nodal officers, Ms D. Diptivilasa has been made incharge of Andhra Pradesh, Mr A.K. Goyal is incharge of Rajasthan, K. Skandan for Tamil Nadu and J&K; Naveen Verma for Bihar and NE states; A.K. Yadav for West Bengal and Sikkim among others