PORVORIM: In a unique move, MLAs have been banned from holding meetings with government officials at their personal residences or offices. They will be able to call such meetings either in the Collectorate or in the concerned departmental headquarters.
The move has been opposed by the Congress, which called it ‘dictatorship’ by the BJP-led coalition government.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday informed the State Legislative Assembly that only Ministers are allowed to hold departmental meetings in their official residences or offices.
“I have issued a circular, banning holding of departmental meetings in the personal residence or office of the MLA. They cannot call the officers to their residence. If MLAs have some work or people issues, then the same should be discussed in the concerned department or Collectorate building,” he said. “Even Ministers cannot call for meetings in their personal residence,” he clarified.
“I have seen, MLAs calling government officers from various departments like PWD, electricity, to their residence and have meetings. This is not acceptable anymore,” he said. “Officers are then humiliated, abused, that is different, who will we hold responsible. But what is important is that in their absence from concerned offices, people are put to hardship,” he stated.
