Hyderabad: Collectors to get more teeth to shore up admin

Hyderabad: District Collectors are set to get more extraordinary powers as the State government is planning to resolve the long-pending issues at village, mandal and district level on a fast pace. A decision on delegating more powers would be finalised at the brainstorming meeting with the District Collectors and other top officials convened by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on June 26 at Pragati Bhavan in Hyderabad.

The Collectors have been asked to submit district development reports for the year 2020-2021 and plan of action for the current year. Issues like distribution of new rations cards, completion of 2 BHK houses for the poor, finalisation of the list of pension beneficiaries for 57 years and above and Haritaharam would take centre-stage in the meeting. Besides, an action plan to implement the next phase Palle Pragati and Pattana Pragati programmes would be discussed and finalised in the meeting, officials said, adding that the role of Collectors would be crucial in the coming days as the Chief Minister wanted to strengthen the administration at grassroot level by according more powers to the Collectors. The CM wants to expand the role of Collectors at every level in the district administration.

The major challenges before the government is the completion of poor housing scheme, distribution of pensions and ration cards and comprehensive development of villages and municipalities and make the local bodies self-sufficient.

The government has made the officials mainly Collectors, Additional Collectors, District Panchayat Raj Officials and Municipal Commissioners accountable in addressing the local issues.

As part of streamlining the administration, the CM has decided to delegate some more powers to the Collectors so that the targets set by the government can be achieved. The Collectors would be made responsible for the mobilization of financial resources to develop the local bodies. The implementation of massive plantation programme Haritaharam during monsoon season would be one of the main agenda at the meeting, officials said.