New Delhi [India], August 14 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has enhanced the financial powers of the Government's Heads of Departments (HoDs) and Administrative Secretaries in nearly six years.

According to the Chief Minister's Office, CM Gupta stated that this move will not only accelerate good governance but will also expedite the implementation of various government schemes, ensuring their timely completion.

The Chief Minister highlighted that this is the first revision in officers' financial powers in nearly six years, with the last amendment having been made on 7 August 2019. She noted that in recent years, there have been effective changes in the administrative and financial systems.

She emphasised that her government draws inspiration from the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has repeatedly stressed that all infrastructure projects must be completed on time so that citizens do not face delays in receiving essential services, as per the release.

According to the Chief Minister, Administrative Secretaries will now be able to directly procure all IT-related items, as well as undertake repairs, rentals, and maintenance, in addition to purchasing equipment and other related items without procedural delays.

Furthermore, technological progress, rising costs due to inflation, and the introduction of new welfare-oriented schemes have brought about significant changes in the execution of projects.

CM Gupta stated that to build a 'Developed Delhi' and to ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach the people promptly, her government's budget this year has risen to Rs 1 lakh crore, compared to Rs 54,800 crore at the time of the last revision. Therefore, the decision has been taken to make effective use of the allocated budget, prevent unnecessary delays in departmental work, speed up the execution of projects, and ensure their timely completion by increasing the financial powers of senior officers.

The Chief Minister also informed that in special cases, Administrative Secretaries have been granted full financial powers. These include the appointment of individual consultants, consultancies, professionals, Project Management Units (PMUs), and other specialists; as well as the procurement, repair, rental, and maintenance of all IT-related items; the hiring of human resources; the purchase of equipment; and the acquisition of new vehicles in place of condemned ones., as per the relaese.

Rekha Gupta said that this change in financial powers has been made to protect public trust and to accelerate Delhi's pace of development.

'It is our responsibility to ensure that public funds are used at the right time, in the right place, and for the right purpose. This decision will not only strengthen good governance but will also make service delivery to the public more effective and timely, while eliminating delays caused by unnecessary inter-departmental movement of files,' she added, as per the CMO. (ANI)