In a big move towards paper-less offices in the Central Secretariat, the Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has written to all secretaries to make references regarding issues only through the e-office platform and not through any physical file or note.
News18 has a copy of the letter written by DoPT Secretary S. Radha Chauhan to all secretaries on September 12. “I would request you to issue suitable instructions to the concerned officers in your ministry/department to make references to this department on policy issues only through eOffice platform and no physical files/notes will be entertained in this department. You will agree that handling physical files is not only cumbersome but also delays decisions,” Chauhan wrote in his letter to secretaries.
“I seek your cooperation in having paperless offices in Central Secretariat,” he wrote. The government has rolled out eOffice version 7.0, which enables references to external offices and seamless movement of files from one ministry to the other, thereby breaking the silos between ministries. It is, however, taking some doing to convince the government’s babudom to give up its love for physical files and file notings and move to e-files that can be signed digitally and approved much faster for policy decisions.
“With a view to accelerate evolution of a digital secretariat, the government inter-alia has been emphasising the need for switching from the conventional physical files and records with a view to bring efficiency, speedy decision-making and transparency into the functioning of Central ministries and departments,” the DoPT Secretary’s letter says.
He said a large number of ministries and departments had turned over to eOffice platform for making references but the DoPT was still receiving references on the files.
eOffice Growth
The Central government has nearly 27 lakh e-files, with just 10 lakh physical files left in the government records. The number of e-files has grown six times in four years from four lakh files in 2018. The fortnightly increase in e-files in about 27,000. The government has also approved policy amendments in the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure 2019, making it possible to issue virtual private networks to deputy secretaries of the government and digital signature certificates up to section officers so that the eOffice penetration can be achieved.
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