Karnataka admin reforms panel suggests closure/merger of 1,000 inactive account heads

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2 has recommended the termination or merger of a total of 1,000 inactive heads of accounts that have zero or negative balances.

The Commission submitted its 10th report to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday.

Addressing a news conference after the submission of the report, R V Deshpande, senior lawmaker and chairman of the Commission, said, "In the 10th report, a total of 2,874 account heads or schemes have been reviewed. About one thousand account heads with zero or negative balances have been identified, and recommendations have been made to merge or terminate them."

As mentioned in the report, the allocation of account heads less than one crore rupees has reduced from Rs 1,336 crore to Rs 105 crore.

"Since the implementation of this move is not feasible, it has been suggested to terminate or merge them. Old schemes with limited scope and no benefits should be discontinued, and when introducing new schemes, the policy of “one entry and one exit” should be followed. We have made recommendations for the cancellation of schemes department‑wise," he stated. 

The report highlighted that at least 280 schemes have an allocation of less than Rs 1 crore, and most of them were Centrally sponsored ones, and the Commission recommended for closure of such schemes.

The Commission has noted that there are about 2,874 heads of accounts being operational in the government, outlined in the state budget document and reported by the Planning Department.

The Commission opined that the merger or closure will help reduce the volume of transactional accounting entries, enhance clarity for departments during budget preparation and release procedures and improve transparency in expenditure tracking, facilitate better monitoring of scheme performance and fund flows and minimise errors, duplication, and administrative burden on departments
Recommendation.

Recommendations

The Karnataka Administrative Reforms-2 has recommended conducting a region-based study before creating new positions.

Explaining this, the Commission Chairperson R V Deshpande said, "Based on workload assessment, staff should be redeployed. Additional staff should be assigned to vacant frontline offices. Unfilled clerical posts should be converted into executive and technical posts for multi‑tasking. Scientific distribution of posts has been recommended based on population, geographical area, and backwardness."

The Commission even stated, "Instead of approving vacant posts one by one, an annual recruitment plan should be prepared, and overall approval should be given. Until redeployment is completed, creation of new posts or promotions should not be permitted." 

"For workload assessment, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms should be strengthened. Even after the tenure of the Administrative Reforms Commission ends, reform processes should continue. For this, a Reforms Monitoring Unit dedicated to administrative reforms should be established in the department. Quarterly review under the Chief Secretary and annual review under the Chief Minister will ensure high‑level accountability. This will make departments committed to achieving reform goals," Deshpande said.  

Merger of govt institutions 

A comprehensive review has been conducted of boards, corporations, authorities, and associations under the state government.

Out of 180 institutions, 84 institutions were selected for in‑depth study. Recommendations were made to close seven quasi‑government institutions, to merge nine quasi‑government institutions with seven others, and to merge two institutions with the government departments.  

The land acquisition process has been identified as a serious problem due to high costs, legal disputes, and project delays. In this regard, 16 specific recommendations and 55 general recommendations have been made.