Rationalisation of clerical posts in all departments, collection of slum improvement cess as a percentage of the property tax and other taxes levied by urban local bodies and revision of water tariff for industrial use... these are some of the recommendations made by the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2 (KARC-2) in its sixth report submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday.
Recommending that there is no need to continue with more posts of the First Division Assistant (FDA) and Second Division Assistant (SDA), the commission led by T.M. Vjay Bhaskar has said the government can consider reviewing the number of FDA and SDA posts in each department and rationalising them or converting them into technical posts (e.g. forest guards in the Forest Department).
“Many FDA, SDA posts and other clerical posts are vacant in all departments. Clerical work would have reduced considerably with the introduction and adoption of the HRMS, Khajane 2, e-Office, e-Par and e-Service Register,” the commission’s report stated.
Fee and penalty provisions
Recommending that there is a need to revise the penalty provisions to make them an effective deterrent, the commission has said that suggestions on the revision for each department are based on the increase in the cost inflation index since they were last prescribed or revised.
Powers to sanction routine benefits such as childcare leave, time-bound promotion, stagnation increment, and medical reimbursement for Group C and D employees should be delegated to the district-level officers instead of officials in the head office.
Department-wise recommendations
Under the Housing Department, the Multi-Dimension Deprivation Index (MDDI) based on income, education, employment, housing, household resources etc. of families in the State developed by the E-Governance Department should be considered in the selection of beneficiaries for State sector housing and site schemes. To weed out ineligible applicants who already possess a site or a house and multiple applicants from a single family, the department should allot EWS sites by obtaining Aadhaar numbers of applicants and verifying from the Kutumba database, RGHCL allottee list, and linking with e-Khata, e-Swathu, BDA, and BBMP databases, the commission has recommended.
“KHB building plan approval fee should be fixed as a percentage of the estimated cost of the building. Besides, maintenance charges levied on vacant sites should be double the charges levied on built houses as a vacant land charge,” the commission’s report stated.
The commission has recommended an amendment to the Karnataka Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1973, to introduce a provision similar to Sec. 30 of the Karnataka Public Libraries Act, 1965, for collection of slum improvement cess as a percentage of the property tax and other taxes levied by urban local bodies in the State.
Man-animal conflicts
Asserting that the Forest Department should respond quickly in giving compensation to victims of man-animal conflict, the commission has recommended that the annual limit for sanction of ex gratia be raised to ₹5 lakh a year to Assistant Conservator of Forests. Powers should also be delegated to the Range Forest Officer (RFO) to sanction ex gratia up to ₹15,000 in each case subject to a maximum of ₹2 lakh in a year.
Water tariff for industrial use
“Revised water rates for industrial use that were issued in 2019 were struck down by the High Court because the relevant rules had not been amended. The revised water rates for industrial use taking the cost inflation index would be ₹1.20 lakh per mcft for use of river water and ₹2.40 lakh for use of canal water. The rules may be notified with these rates. While revising the rates, the Water Resources Department can also insert a provision in the rules to increase the tariff at the rate of 5% every year, to take into account inflation and the higher water rates for industrial use in neighbouring States,” the report added.
