24-hr control room at PM's office in 2 weeks

KATHMANDU, Oct 9: The government has been making final preparations to set up a control room at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) within the next two weeks to deal in a timely and effective manner with complaints, obstacles and concerns felt by the public.



According to OPMCM officials, the control room will be set up before the Tihar festival.[break]



The control room will be different from the anti-corruption unit to be set up at OPMCM and the various ministries. The control room will take up and try to settle problems of a public nature ranging from malpractices, delay in service delivery, any kind of crime, and social incidents.



"Though the exact name of the control room is yet to be decided, its jurisdiction and scope have been finalized for the most part. It will remain open round the clock, take up matters of public concern and initiate steps to address and resolve as soon as possible any hurdles facing the people," said Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire.



Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had instructed officials to set up a control room at his office after he found the OPMCM gates closed for a few mornings when he had reached there early immediately after assuming the top executive post.



Besides taking up public problems and addressing them, the most important task of the control room will be receiving daily progress reports from all the ministries, compiling them and furnishing a compiled report to Prime Minister Bhattarai.



"The room will work under the direct supervision of the prime minister and will thus enjoy powers to instruct all the ministries to furnish daily reports to it," said the source.



According to the source, the prime minister will decide the nature of rewards and punishments to be offered to government employees on the basis of such reports.



"The control room will promptly instruct the Ministry of Home Affairs, the police or any other government agency concerned based on the nature of the problems and the concern expressed by the public," said an officer.





The phone numbers, fax, email and SMS pertaining to the special unit will be made public shortly. The public can lodge complaints at the control room about their problems, sudden accidents and incidents, any crime, crucial information regarding crimes, malpractices, other unlawful activities and any other genuine concerns.



"Either a secretary or a joint secretary will command the control room," said another official, adding, "Anyone can contact and ask the officials deputed to the room for any assistance," the source added.



At least three section officers and half a dozen other staff will be deputed to the room.



There will be three shifts--morning, day and night--for government employees working at the control room. Those working a shift have to work for about 8 hours each.

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