Blank GOs on govt. website leave officials puzzled in Andhra Pradesh
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The officials have uploaded at least 17 such govt. orders since August 1
The blank GOs uploaded to the official website of the State government— https://goir.ap.gov.in/—have left the visitors of the portal puzzled. The officials have uploaded at least 17 blank GOs since the beginning of August.
Some of the GOs were related to the transfers and postings, while a few others were related to diversion of forest land in favour of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The abstract was not mentioned in the GOs issued by the General Administration Department (GAD).
The blank GOs issued include GO MS 71, RT 1268, RT 1270, RT 1274, RT 1276, RT 1277, RT 1278, RT 1282, RT RT 1283, RT 1284, RT 1287, RT 1288, RT 1289, RT 1290, RT 1292, RT 1293, and RT 1294. The Forest Department issued GOs 50 and 49.
The transfer order of Special Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma was ‘erased’ from the public domain, leaving a blank page on the portal minutes after it was uploaded on August 2. The government, sources say, is planning to merge the Planning Department with the Finance Department.
“It is assumed that the order might have been withdrawn because of the fissures between the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and the Planning Department over the handling of certain officials. The GO was issued only for the official record,” say a source, on the condition of anonymity.
Similarly, the GOs relating to IAS officers were issued on following days by the GAD. But, the content of the GOs was not made public. The GOs, neither, were classified as confidential for them to be hidden from public viewing.
A GO relating to the cash award to ace shuttler and Olympic bronze medal winner P.V. Sindhu was also kept confidential initially. It was made public only after the cheque was presented to her. The trend continued on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday leaving even some bureaucrats baffled. A senior official recalls that only once, a decade ago, was a transfer order of IAS officers issued as ‘confidential’, but the contents became public in no time. The GOs were routine orders with no harm whatsoever. It was incomprehensible as to why the content was kept hidden, the official says.
Content hidden
The Forest Department issued GO MS 49 on August 5. The abstract says diversion of land to the Union Ministry of Defence. The GO was not marked as confidential, yet the content was hidden. The senior bureaucrats were clueless as to why the blank GOs were being kept in public domain. “It shows the administration in a poor light,” says an official.
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