Home minister P. Chidambaram and Governor M.O.H. Farook with senior Jharkhand police and CRPF officers at the review meeting in Ranchi on Friday. (Prashant Mitra)

Ranchi, June 11: Setting the agenda for the state’s new dispensation under Raj Bhavan, Union home minister P.Chidambaram today urged senior officials to adopt a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption and asked police officials to work in tandem with the Centre to fight Naxalite terror.

Spending more than two hours in two separate closed-door sessions — one on security and the other on development — with senior officials who included the chief secretary, senior police and CRPF officials and the two advisors of Governor M..H. Farook, Chidambaram spoke of the “good work” undertaken during the tenure of former Governor K. Sankaranarayanan when the state was also under President’s rule.

At times pulling up officials for providing inadequate information on the status of various Central government welfare schemes, he asked them to prioritise development projects by June 30 and implement them in right earnest.

But his focus was on corruption.

Indicating that President’s rule was here to stay, Chidambaram pointed out that Jharkhand had earned a bad name for corruption.

“One of the chief ministers is behind bars, while the JPSC chairman and members have been booked for corruption. So, you need to ensure that corruption is under control,” he told officials.

On security and anti-Naxalite operations, the home minister asked the police top brass to make optimum use of available resources. According to some police officials present at the meeting, he seemed to indicate that the operation against Naxalites would go hand in hand with development work.

“The civil administration should be present in the areas. It is not a war. Our focus should be on betterment of people,” he is said to have told police officials.

Later during his meeting on the status of development projects, Chidambaram asked officials to be realistic and not “build castles in the air”, urging them to prioritise implementation of projects.

“We can’t have a new budget under President’s Rule. So, prioritise development schemes taken up in the current fiscal’s state budget and implement them,” he said.

The home minister did not spare officials who came unprepared. “Don’t try to fool me,” he told a secretary.

He lost his cool when rural development secretary S.K. Satpathy failed to justify an additional demand for five lakh housing units under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).

“Asked for last year’s report card the secretary provided a figure of 68,000 but could not clarify whether these were new units or upgraded ones,” said an official who was at the meeting.

Similarly, the chief secretary asked for 5,000 km of additional roads under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), but he was said to be at a loss when asked for the “correct report card”.

Road secretary N.N. Sinha drew flak after the chief secretary placed a demand for extra 800 km of national highways.

“When you have not started work on 413 km road in the first phase, why should you demand the extra roads under national highways?” Chidambaram is said to asked the official.

Earlier, Governor Farook spoke on the fallout of state’s political instability and briefed the home minister on security and development needs of Jharkhand.

He urged Chidambaram to increase the quota of foodgrains under Antyodaya Yojana, economic assistance for creating infrastructure for Jharkhand Jaguar and Cobra battalions and extend the special package meant for Naxalite hit districts to cover Ranchi (rural), Giridih and Khunti.

The meetings began around 9.30 am and went on till 11.30 am. Among those who attended were the two advisors of the Governor, Wilfred Lakra and R.R. Prasad, chief secretary A.K. Singh, DGP Neyaz Ahmad, CRPF DG Vikram Srivastava, Special DG Vijay Raman and secretaries of various departments.

Before leaving around 12 noon, Chidambaram met a delegation of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI).