i) Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department,

ii) Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Training) Department.

2. This Department performs important functions, which are Advisory, Statutory and Administrative in nature.

The Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department is functioning as an advisory Department on the subjects detailed below as envisaged in the "Tamil Nadu Government Business Rules and Secretariat Instructions":

(i) Arriving at the estimate of vacancies for various posts in the Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Services and preparation of panels for promotion / appointment to higher posts in a service;

(ii) Examining proposals relating to relaxation of relevant Special Rules / General Rules for regularisation of service and declaration of probation of Government servants;

(iii) Rendering advice in respect of various provisions of Fundamental Rules;

(iv) Examining proposals relating to revision of seniority as per the provisions under Rule 35 of the General Rules for the Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Services;

(v) Placing proposals relating to equivalence / recognition of a qualification before the "recognition committee" being formed by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission and issue of orders based on the recommendation of the above committee.

The following Statutory Rules and Regulations relating to service matters are administered in the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department:

The business of the Government of Tamil Nadu at the Secretariat level is carried on in accordance with

(i) The Tamil Nadu Government Business Rules and Secretariat Instructions;

(ii) The Standing Orders of the Hon'ble Chief Minister issued from time to time and

(iii) The Tamil Nadu Secretariat Office Manual

which are administered by this Department.

(i) This Department deals with the establishment matters of all the staff members of the Secretariat, who come under "One Unit System" upto the level of Under Secretaries to Government.

(ii) It also deals with the grant of recognition for all Service Associations besides conducting Tamil Nadu Government Servants Civil Services Joint Council Meetings.

(iii) The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, Tamil Nadu State Information Commission and Administrative Reforms Committee are under the administrative control of this Department.

(i) Immediately after formation of the Government, Hon’ble Minister (Electricity) considering the welfare of the Government servants / Teachers held discussions with the office bearers of the recognised Service Associations functioning in the Secretariat Campus, viz., Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association, Tamil Nadu Secretariat Officers' Association, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Reporters' Association, Tamil Nadu Government Secretariat Drivers' Association and Tamil Nadu Government Office Assistants and Basic Servants Branch Association on their various demands.

(ii) In order to exhibit unity among the Secretariat staff working in various capacities from Record Clerks to Additional Secretaries, it has been decided to merge other Associations of the Secretariat with the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association and to amend the bye-laws of the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association. The above matter was discussed by the Hon’ble Minister (Electricity) with the Associations concerned. Consequent on this, the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Officers’ Association expressed its willingness to merge with the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association. The matter was examined and necessary amendments were issued to the bye-laws of the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association in G.O.Ms.No.30, Personnel and Administrative Reforms(K) Department, dated: 22.02.2008.

(iii) The demands of other Associations are under consideration and are in various stages.

The Government have consistently felt the need for cordial relationship with the Government employees and teachers, since they play a very important role in the functioning of the Government and in carrying the schemes of the Government to general public.

2. The previous Government had withdrawn the benefits enjoyed by the Government servants. This Government, in addition to the restoration of those benefits, have also extended additional benefits such as, Repealing of TESMA 2003, Lifting of ban order for new recruitment, Regularisation of strike period as duty, Reducing of qualifying service for full pension from 33 years to 30 years, Sanction of Pongal Bonus / Exgratia, Payment of VI Pay Commission arrears in 3 equal instalments, Increasing the quantum of Festival Advance from Rs.1000 to Rs.2000/-.

1. The present 41% D.A. will be increased by 6% and total D.A. will be 47% with effect from 1.1.2008; the arrears of the increased D.A. will be paid in cash;

2. In order to settle all the pending claims of the pensioners till February, 2008, a lumpsum grant of Rs.10/- crores will be sanctioned;

3. With a view to provide adequate reimbursement of the medical expenses incurred by pensioners in their old age, the existing ceiling from 75% of medical cost or Rs.50,000/- will be enhanced to 75% of medical cost or Rs.1,00,000/- by making a monthly deduction of Rs.50/-.

The Government constituted an Administrative Reforms Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Dr. A.K. Rajan, Retired Judge of Madras High Court with ten members and a Member-Secretary to ensure corruption-free and transparent administration from the Secretariat down to the Village level.

2. The Terms of Reference for the Administrative Reforms Committee were issued to encourage transparency of administration, to eradicate corruption and to reduce red-tapism.

3. The Committee started functioning at Periyar Centre Building, Periyar Thidal, Chennai, and so far held thirteen meetings to discuss various aspects on the Terms of Reference of the Administrative Reforms Committee.

4. A General Questionaire on the Terms of Reference of the Committee has been prepared and sent to all Heads of Department and District Collectors for their views. Sub-Committees among the members of the Committee have also been formed with select Departments. Special Questionnaire in respect of these Departments were also prepared and sent to the respective Departments for their views.

5. In response to the Public Notice issued in the leading Dailies in English and Tamil, about 1,700 petitions have been received from the general public with their opinion and they are under examination in the Administrative Reforms Committee.

6. The Committee also visited Vellore, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tirunelveli Districts and held discussions with the non-officials of these Districts and officials of important Departments including Collectors in their headquarters. As a part of study, the Committee also held meetings with the Administrative Departments of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection, Education, Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare and Revenue Departments along with the Heads of Department under their control and discussed various aspects on the Special Questionnaire already sent to them.

7. The Committee will submit its first report to the Government shortly.

Orders have been issued for the formulation of Citizen’s Charter for each Department of the Government. The intention behind the Citizen’s Charter is to ensure accountability and transparency with regard to the services available to the people. Further, the Charter increases the general public awareness of their rights and of the standards that public services aim to achieve. The Citizen’s Charter also helps the Department concerned to create the principles of good public service underlying their programmes.

2. Guidelines have been prepared by this Department for preparation of the Citizen’s Charter, which have been sent to all the Departments of Secretariat. All the Departments of Secretariat (except five exempted Departments) as well as certain Government organisations have prepared the Citizen’s Charter and placed them on the table of the Legislative Assembly. As the following Departments are not directly dealing with public, they are exempted from preparation of Citizen’s Charter:

(i) Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department,

(ii) Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Department,

(iii) Prohibition and Excise Department,

(iv) Public Department,

(v) Law Department.

3. All the Citizen’s Charters have also been made available through NICNET/INTERNET on the website www.tn.gov.in. This includes Citizen’s Charters prepared by the Departments of Secretariat / Heads of Department / Boards and Corporations under the Government of Tamil Nadu.

All the Departments of Secretariat and the District Collectors have been instructed to open Information-cum-Facilitation Counters to assist the people to understand Government procedures and get information regarding the existing stage of their request for services. The counters are functioning at Collectorates and offices of Heads of Department.

In order to ensure transparent and efficient governance, the Acts and Rules administered by this Department with the assistance of National Informatics Centre (NIC) have been converted into electronic format, updated and hosted in the Government website " www.tn.gov.in  " in this Department pages.

2. An Electronic Compendium of Acts, Rules and Government Orders governed by the Departments of Secretariat is created, updated and maintained in the Government website.

3. A computerized Tappal Distribution System under Electronic File Processing System has been commissioned in this Department with effect from 01.01.2007. The Computerised Distribution of Tappal is extended to all other Departments of Secretariat with effect from 01.01.2008.

4. The personnel details of the Officers and staff of the Departments of Secretariat are maintained in Computers under Personnel Information System (PINFOSYS).

5. As a part of e-Governance, it has been proposed to implement the Secretariat e-knowledge System in Departments of Secretariat, for which the Request For Proposal (RFP) has been called for from the Director of e-Governance. On receipt of RFP, action will be pursued to implement the system in all Departments of Secretariat.

6. With a view to achieve better e-Governance in Secretariat, it is proposed to computerise the core functions such as budgeting, pay roll of Officers and staff, personnel information, monitoring of litigations and cases under RTI Act, replies to Legislative Assembly Questions etc. with the technical assistance of National Informatics Centre.

7. Electronic Files Processing System (EFPS) / Tappal Distribution System (TDS) will be extended to all Districts during the current year.

As a part of Administrative Reforms, this Department has taken effective steps and forwarded the following innovative projects for funding under the "Capacity Building for Poverty Reduction" (CBPR) Programme assisted by Department for International Development (DFID), Government of United Kingdom, to Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances and Pension of Government of India.

(i) Bio-metric identification of Below Powerty Line families to facilitate implementation of all Poverty Allievation Programmes in Sivagangai District (Rs.20.19 lakhs);

(ii) Public Grievance Redressal Programme through toll free Telephone lines in Revenue Department (Revenue Administration) in Villupuram District (Rs.6 lakhs);

(iii) Bio-Metric based attendance monitoring device under National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in Villupuram District (Rs.70.85 lakhs);

The Government of India have agreed to the above three proposals and sanctioned funds in respect of the projects mentioned in item (i) and (ii) above.

2. The Tamil Nadu Government website " www.tn.gov.in " received the National Award (Gold) for e-Governance 2007-08 constituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Department of Information Technology, Government of India, for the best Government website in the country.

Right to Information is one of the basic rights of the Citizens of a Democratic State. The Right to Information Act received the assent of the President of India on 15.06.2005 and came into effect on 12.10.2005. The aim of this Act is to promote transparency, accountability and setting out a practical regime for Citizens to secure access to information from Public Authorities.

2. This Act enables the public to obtain information from the Government, Legislative Assemblies, Parliament and Courts as a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. The Tamil Nadu, as a pioneer State in India, had enacted the Tamil Nadu Right to Information Act, 1997. Consequent on the enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Central Act prevails over the Tamil Nadu Right to Information Act, 1997.

3. The Central Government have constituted Central Information Commission to exercise the powers conferred on it and to perform the functions assigned to it under the said Act. Similarly, the Government of Tamil Nadu have constituted State Information Commission to exercise the powers conferred on it and to perform the functions assigned to it under the said Act. The powers and functions of the Central Information Commission and State Information Commission are contained in Chapter V of the said Act. The Government of Tamil Nadu have appointed one State Chief Information Commissioner and two Information Commissioners in the State Information Commission. It is served by a Secretary to the Commission and other supporting staff.

4. The subject "Monitoring and Implementation of Right to Information Act, 2005" hitherto dealt with by the Public Department has been transferred to the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department with effect from 21.11.2006. The Special Commissioner and Secretary to Government, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, is the State Nodal Officer for the implementation of this Act. This Department also looks after the establishment matters of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission. A Guide Book on Right to Information Act, 2005, for the use of general public has been prepared by this Department. The revised edition of the Guide Book has been prepared and will be published shortly. The Tamil Nadu Information Commission is preparing an Annual Report on the implementation of Right to Information Act by Public Authorities for placing it in the Legislative Assembly.

5. For popularization of Right to Information Act through multi-media, viz., Press, Radio, Television, Conducting Seminars, Educational and Cultural Programmes, an allocation of Rs.5.00 lakhs has been proposed under Part-II in the financial year 2008-09. Training in Right to Information has been imparted to 1,400 officials by the Anna Institute of Management, Chennai.

6. Under the Right to Information Act, 2005, information can be furnished in two ways:

(a) Pro-active disclosure,

(b) On Application.

All the Departments of Secretariat and Heads of Department including Collectors are the Public Authorities under Section 4 of the Right to Information Act and are required to provide the details of its organization, functions and duties etc. and to take steps to provide as much information suo-motu to the public. Accordingly, manuals have been prepared indicating the activities of the Government Departments for use of general public. They have also been hosted in the Right to Information website - www.tn.gov.in /rti. As and when requests are received from the information seekers, they are examined expeditiously and replies are sent to them; necessary clarifications / orders are also issued according to their request. Public Information Officers and Appellate Authorities have been appointed in each Department to furnish the information to the seekers. The fee has been reduced from Rs.50/- to Rs.10/- per application. It can be paid by Cash or by affixing Court Fee Stamp or by Demand Draft or Bankers Cheque or by Treasury Challan. During the year 2007, this Department has received 597 applications under this Act from Advocates, Associations, General Public, Government Servants and Pensioners. The nature of information sought relates to copies of Government Orders, letters, clarifications to Service Rules and individual grievances in respect of promotion, disciplinary cases and covering conduct and leave rules. Replies have been furnished to the applicants. Appeal Petitions are received and disposed with suitable information. The applicant, if not satisfied with the Public Information Officer’s reply, can make an appeal to the Appellate Authority. Second appeal under the Right to Information Act vests with the Tamil Nadu Information Commission. There is no application fee for appeal. The person aggrieved by the reply given by the Tamil Nadu Information Commission can approach the High Court by filing Writ.