New Delhi

Central government offices in the national capital may soon get a swanky look as government has decided to modernise them in order to promote efficiency.

The offices, which have “public interface”, will be given preference over others under the new guidelines on modernisation of government offices, 2015, formed by the Ministry of Personnel.

A concerned government office can send a detailed proposal anticipating “future requirements of at least a decade, though the implementation may be carried out in phases”, it said.

“The scheme is confined to the government of India.

Proposals meant for the main ministries or departments, attached offices and statutory bodies located in Delhi will alone be considered under the scheme.

“Proposals for field offices, subordinate offices, branch offices outside Delhi, new offices, training institutes, public sector undertakings, registered societies, autonomous bodies, etc. will fall outside the purview of this scheme,” the guidelines said.

The scheme is intended to serve as a model and needs to be supplemented with the efforts of ministries or departments themselves with regard to modernisation, it said.

“The offices will be given a swanky and modern look with clean office building, ample working space, waiting place, easy access for public to meet concerned officers in case of offices dealing with public, modern communication systems and other amenities to make governance more efficient and effective,” a senior Personnel Ministry official said.

The proposals received from ministries or departments, which have not earlier availed of the scheme will be given priority. At least 25 per cent of the estimated cost of the proposal needs to be provided by the concerned ministry, the guidelines said.

All material to be used towards modernisation should be simple and functional as well as cost effective, it said.

The modernisation proposal will not contain demands for items like VCR, video camera, tv sets, VCD, electronic typewriters, telephone lines, etc. However, fax machines will be considered only if the department has to deal with a number of field or regional offices.

Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchanges (EPABX) will be considered, only if some direct telephone lines are surrendered by the department.

“Paper shredders will be considered, only if the department has to deal with substantial number of confidential or secret papers to be destroyed,” the document said.

The policy cites dos and don’ts post-execution of modernisation plan. The ministries or departments will sensitise the users to handle the new facilities with care.

They should ensure proper upkeep and maintenance of their modernised offices.

“Ministries or departments may consider obtaining ISO certificates for their modernised units. This would ensure proper maintenance of the modernised units and standardisation of good practices,” it said.

All those interested can send their proposal to the Personnel Ministry. These would be examined by a screening committee, which is chaired by an Additional Secretary level-officer, and has members drawn from Niti Aayog, National Informatics Centre, Urban and Personnel ministries.

PTI