Patna, April 13: By April 25, state government employees would have to develop the habit of disposing of files within three days. Else, they would face action.

The state government has issued directives for strict adherence to secretariat instructions dealing with the time limit for disposing of files. The general administration department today issued letters to all the principal secretaries, secretaries and department heads, asking them to ensure complete adherence to rules.

According to the secretariat instructions formulated in 1952 and amended from time to time, any government employee — right from office assistant to departmental head — cannot hold a file for more than three days. Anyone overstepping the limit is supposed to explain the reasons for the delay. The violation of time limit without a valid ground would attract disciplinary action, it states.

The general administration department letter also talks about pasting a special format, the copy of which accompanies the letter, on the cover of the files. It would have the name and designation of the officer/employee, the date of receiving file and date of disposing it or sending it to the higher-up.

The new system would be effective from April 25. From this date, files without format of the details of file disposal would not be accepted.

“The letter has been issued to ensure quick disposal of files so department works could be executed in stipulated time,” the general administration department principal secretary Deepak Kumar told The Telegraph.

Welcoming the state government’s move, IAS Association treasurer K.P. Ramaiah said: “The new system will give fillip to the work culture and will work as a deterrent for those who are in habit of sitting over files.”

He said the government’s work for their welfare and quick disposal of files would imply quick delivery of benefits to the people of the state.

Those in the lower-rung of the hierarchy in the government machinery have certain reservations, though. “Our officers are already disposing of files on time. The government should ensure that the discipline is maintained at every level and action must be taken against those who fail to adhere to the said rule,” Bihar Administrative Service Association president Shambhu Nath Mishra said.

Anil Kumar Singh, the general secretary of Bihar Secretariat Service Association, opined that government should make an arrangement to monitor the functioning of the system so that all those sitting over files could be punished irrespective of their rank. “The system should treat everyone equally. Only then the benefit of this move would accrue to people as delay at any level would nullify the efforts of others,” Singh said. Bihar State Non-Gazetted Employees’ Federation general secretary Raj Kishore Singh has no complaints against the move, yet he stressed the need of filling up vacancies at all levels for timely disposal of files.