Permanent Secretary for Civil Service, Parmesh Chand has urged civil servants to simplify rules and procedures for ordinary people to access Government assistance and services.
As the Government embarks on a series of initiatives to improve flow and accessibility of various services and assistance to ordinary people, Chand said they have various Sub-Committees of Permanent Secretaries, formed to cut out red tape, eliminate or minimise wastage and assist in improving health and wellness of people.
“These are all cross-cutting issues requiring a Whole of Government approach.”
“We need to make things easier and simpler, and we need to cut down on wastage. Government has limited resources and we can make our dollar go further if we work smarter and more diligently.”
Chand said each of the Ministries has been requested to simplify procedures and/or remove bottlenecks in at least three areas.
“These are simple things such as cutting down on the number of pages or questions to complete in a form, asking only for one form of identification (ID) rather than multiple IDs, and addressing people’s needs in one visit rather than asking them to revisit the Office.”
“It also costs time and money to get extensive forms filled and people asked to visit Offices for appointments etc. The more we simplify, the better it is both for us as Civil Servants and those who we are tasked to help.”
Chand added Permanent Secretaries are now meeting collectively on a regular basis to address issues which will bring about much needed changes for higher levels of efficiency and improved service delivery.
