Chandrababu Naidu keeps 800 GOs secret

Transperancy in governance!

Most of the confidential G.O.s are related to the departments held by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and pertain to issues like land allocation, investments, industries and energy, general administration and tourism

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government, which boasts of transparency in governance, has created a record of sorts by issuing over 800 confidential GOs in 18 months which accounts for over 20 percent of the total GOs issued.

Most of the confidential GOs are related to the departments held by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and pertain to issues like land allocation, investments, industries and energy, general administration and tourism. The other departments which had also issued confidential GOs include information technology. About 552 confidential GOs pertain to departments held by the Chief Ministers followed by Revenue – 104, Home – 86, Finance -28, Agriculture and Cooperation – 24 and 23 by Panchayat Raj department.

When asked by The Hans India as to what could be so confidential in a GO which is supposed to be public document, a senior official in the GAD and the wing looking after the protocol of the Chief Minister on the condition of anonymity said that most of these GOs relate to the expenses incurred on the Chief Minister’s tours and other issues related to the Chief Minister’s Office and administration.

According to another official, undoubtedly a large number of confidential GOs were issued in the residuary state because of certain special reasons. He said they pertain to allotment of lands to the prospective investors, in information technology and other industries in the state. The sources said that there were many cases where several industrialists had shown interest to set up their units in the state and they did not want the details to be revealed till the government completes all formalities, including allotment of land. Keeping their request in view, the government had marked such GOs as confidential. Once the process was complete then the GOs would become open for all to see, the source said.

However, a random check of some of the confidential GOs issued by the government in July 2014 continues to remain confidential. These GOs do not pertain to any industry or such important sectors. They pertain to departmental proceedings against public servants and service matters. But officials also say that there are confidential GOs issued in August 2015 were now available for anyone to read them.

However, some officials, including senior IAS officers and opposition party leaders, feel that it was not a good practice. It gives an impression that the government was trying to suppress information from the public. It also goes against the basic principle of Section 4 of Right to Information Act which says, “The basic premise of the Right To Information (RTI) Act is the concept that the individual citizen is a sovereign in his own right, and is the owner of the Government.”

Striking a dissent note, another official from the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department said, “There are some big names who want to come to the State to invest, and this they wanted to do by shifting their base from that state where they are at present located. It was against this back drop they have requested us not to disclose their names for time being. The GOs have been marked confidential in the interest of the state.

When asked whether there is any criteria as to which order could be kept under confidential category, former finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy clarified that there is no hard and fast rule or an established procedure on this issue. Whatever that the government deems fit, it can do. After the cooling period is over the confidential GO becomes public, he said.

A former chief secretary, who did not want to be quoted, pointed out transparency shall not mean doing away with confidentiality. The government could classify an order as confidential, if it considers sensitive or in the state interest… However, when it comes to the issues like GAD, land allocations, investments, I don’t think there is any rationale in keeping them away from the public knowledge,” he added.

Even some of the ministers told The Hans India that there is nothing new in this and it is part of the routine administrative business done by any government.