Messy file management a fitting replica of a sick Govt
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 04 2010: Files containing important records of all Government departments including the Manipur Civil Secretariat are in complete disarray whereas stamps purchased at the cost of crores of rupees have been wasted due to improper storage thereby costing lakhs of rupees to the State exchequer every year.

Almost all Government departments do not maintain files and records in a proper and orderly manner.

On account of the haphazard manner of maintaining records and files, there have been countless occasions where important files and records get lost.

This also led the departments to take up or resume programmes, totally unconnected from the programmes it had earlier implemented which were recorded in the lost files.

With the Govt functioning on files/records kept this way, what can one expect ?

Any chance visitor can observe how the files are being kept in Govt departments in the most haphazard manner.

This gives rise to serious inconveniences when important files, particularly old files are needed for reference or other purposes.

A very unhealthy culture of offering money to a staff of the particular department for searching the needed files has also become a trend in almost all Govt Depts, though this is no guarantee that the file will be traced.

On the other hand, the Directorate of Treasury and Accounts has been purchasing cheque/revenue stamps, judicial stamps, non-judicial stamps AT/ET stamps worth crores of rupees for use by the State.

But a large quantity of these stamps get lost or became unusable due to improper storage thereby incurring a regular loss of lakhs of rupees every year.

Even though these stamps were not stolen, a large number of them were rendered useless as they got wet by precipitation or affected by moth.

Such careless storage of stamps has been forfeiting the State a considerable amount of every year.

In the last 18 months, the Government purchased stamps worth Rs 40 crores.

However, as these stamps have gum on the back, they soon became wet and got stuck to each other due to precipitation.

Even as the Directorate is aware of the huge amount of money lost by the Government due to wastage of stamps, none of the officers are held responsible nor any official is paying any attention to proper storage of stamps.

Speaking to this reporter, a high-ranking official of the Directorate of Treasury and Accounts conceded that stamps worth lakhs of rupees were lost every year due to improper storage.

Nevertheless, for the first time in the State, the Directorate is organising a course on record management and file keeping.

Due efforts would also be initiated to store stamps in safe and systematic manner, conveyed the official.

Consequent upon a filing system launched by the Directorate for pensioners as a pilot project, detail information and data about the pensioners could be accessed and obtained any time.

Moreover, files of the Directorate have been separated from those of other departments with a colour code.

These files have been computerised making them easily accessible.

Further, the Directorate is also working on a new system of making information about annual accounts and other data easily available and accessible.

This project would be completed very soon, added the official.