Haryana Chief Secretary directs departments to prepare advance and contingency plans

Chandigarh: Amid the military conflict between India and Pakistan taking a sharp upturn, Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi here on Saturday directed the departments to prepare advance and contingency plans to enable swift action when required.

To enhance coordination during emergencies, a 'War Emergency Branch' will be established in the State Secretariat under the supervision of the Deputy Secretary (Secretariat Establishment).

"Departments must keep themselves in readiness to enforce necessary measures at short notice," Rastogi said.

The Chief Secretary was presiding over the first meeting of the State Civil Advisory and Implementation Committee here.

Rastogi also serves as the Committee Chairperson.

The meeting was aimed at ensuring that Civil Defence mechanisms are robust and well-coordinated to protect people, property, and essential services in times of emergencies, particularly during hostile attacks or disasters, an official statement here.

Rastogi instructed all administrative secretaries to immediately recall officers and officials currently on leave.

Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department Sumita Misra, who is also the Vice Chairperson of the Committee, drew attention to the unprecedented surge in fake news and misinformation on social media.

She stressed the need for strict enforcement measures.

"Such content must be aggressively monitored, and all accounts spreading misinformation should be tracked and shut down," she said while directing the concerned departments to take immediate and sustained action.

It was informed during the meeting by the officials that there is no shortage of essential commodities in the state, and stockists have been directed to upload their inventories on a real-time basis on both central and state government portals.

Misra further urged all administrative secretaries to ensure that their departments are fully prepared to carry out all necessary actions related to emergency response.

She instructed each department to nominate a Duty Officer, not below the rank of Deputy Secretary or equivalent, who will be responsible for coordinating the department's response and handling all communications from the state and union governments.

Departments were directed to submit contact details of their designated officers to the Chief Secretary's office by this evening.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretaries of Health and Family Welfare, Irrigation and Water Resources, Energy, Public Works Department (Buildings & Roads), Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, and Higher Education.

Also present were the Principal Secretaries of Industries and School Education, Commissioner and Secretaries from Development and Panchayats, Public Health Engineering, Urban Local Bodies, and Information, Public Relations and Languages Department.

Senior security and emergency officials, including the Director General of Police, Additional DGP, CID, Director General Fire Services, and Commandant, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), also attended.

Representatives from the Citizens Resources Information Department, Civil Military Liaison Conference (Western Command, Chandimandir), Government Railway Police (Ambala), Commandant General, Home Guards, and Director, Civil Defence, Haryana were also present.