The two days of brainstorming sessions provided an opportunity for officers, joint secretaries and above, to get away from the hustle and bustle of busy office schedules in Delhi.
The two-day offsite Chintan Shivir of the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs concluded at Kevadia in Gujarat on Tuesday with Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exhorting officers to strive for simplification of processes with a focus on not just the “whole-of-government-approach,” but also “whole-of-the-country approach” to maximise delivery and engagement.
The two days of brainstorming sessions provided an opportunity for officers, joint secretaries and above, to get away from the hustle and bustle of busy office schedules in Delhi.
Besides brainstorming sessions, the two-day offsite meetings provided an opportunity for officers to bond over food, cultural programmes and site visits ahead of the Budget Exercise for the revised estimate for 2023-24 and the Budget estimate for 2024-25, which will likely convey an election year sentiment.
The discussions revolved around skilling, maintaining robust organisational processes, streamlining file management systems and expediting decision-making, onboarding of stakeholders from the start, citizen-friendly technology tools, flexible working hours to enhance productivity, leveraging technology and use of AI for future-readiness, whole-of-Government-and-holistic approach towards public service delivery, time-bound delivery of citizen-centric services and removing duplicity of effort.
The first day of Shivir on Monday started with meditation and a session thereafter on the role of the ministry of finance in Amrit Kal (till 2046-47), followed by lunch and quiz/cultural programmes before dinner was served. Tuesday also began with meditation and a session on improving efficiencies, followed by site visits.
“In her concluding remarks during the Chintan Shivir, Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman stated that both effectiveness and efficiency are long-term phenomenon and consistency in reform policy, with focus on both, personal and systemic efficiencies, is the need of the hour,” the finance ministry tweeted.
Sitharaman asked senior officials to continuously mentor the new entrants/younger colleagues to develop the wherewithal in delivering results in the Amrit Kaal and beyond Viksit Bharat 2047, the ministry said.
She also emphasised the need to continuously reorient policy in the cultural context and to instil a sense of ownership in decision-making, to enhance effectiveness with efficiency.
Source:financialexpress.com