PM against early transfer of officials

The impact of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal row and his speech to the Planning Commission appears very fresh in the mind of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as his first letter to chief ministers talks of fostering the spirit of "co-operative federalism" and smoothening the delivery of development projects to the poor.

The letter also brings good news to transfer weary bureaucrats, as the Prime Minister has indicated his preference for fixed tenures for key officials to ensure good governance, effective administration and "proper delivery of public services."

"Challenges of law and order as well as development require stability of tenure of officials in key positions. Frequent transfers of public servants have a debilitating impact not only on their performance and morale but also on the whole process of governance," Singh said in the letter.

However, it was the Centre's problems in solving the SYL canal issue, which threatens the stability of the ruling Congress itself, hangs heavy over the slant of the letter. He has appealed to chief ministers to play the role of "visionary leaders".

"The Centre can generate funds on its own but the success of development programmes lie entirely in the hands of the state," he said. The Prime Minister called for "collective endeavour in the true spirit of an abiding partnership in the best traditions of cooperative federalism."

He said despite the growth momentum generated over the past two decades and all its attendant successes, "we are still to realise our full potential. Achieving this requires determined and concerted action on many fronts."

Singh also called attention to the uneven development among different regions in the country despite many development programmes.

"We need to make our process of economic reforms inclusive, both at the Centre and in the states," the Prime Minister said. Another hint that a rich state like Punjab could afford to be a little unbending on sharing water.

The process of inclusive reforms, he said, involved greater focus on agriculture through increased public investment and effective strategies for employment generation.

"It will mean ensuring equal opportunities for vulnerable sections like scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, women and minorities," he said. He also said that to even the tenor of development investments in such areas was to be encouraged.

Contending that inclusive reforms must take into account the interests of labour in organised and unorganised sectors, Singh said the aim should be to improve the policy regime for private sector to create wealth as well as provide space for non-governmental and citizen action groups to contribute to development process and the well being of people.

Some development programmes according to the PM require sub-optimal use of our efforts and resources." He added, "we need to identify them and rationalise them. We need to give specific timelines for delivery on key development goals and be held publicly accountable for them. We need to collectively identify the bottlenecks in our systems and procedures that limit the utilisation of our potential."

Soon after he had assumed office, Manmohan Singh had addressed a conference of chief ministers on rural development, where too he spoke of ensuring that the programmes designed for the poor are implemented and the money allocated for them reaches them.

By referring to it again in his letter, Singh seems to be paving the way for the rural development agenda to occupy Centre stage as far as the UPA government is concerned.