INTRODUCTION

 

The idea of a Manual of Office Procedure had been cropping up from time to time and the newly created O & M Section took the first step by asking all sections of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to detail out their procedure and practices. With this initial input, the work of drafting the Manual was started in right earnest in July 1998. In determining the content of the Manual the major influences were:-

 

(i)                   Ensuring that the provisions of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business requiring to be implemented by the Secretariat were adequately covered in terms of procedures.

(ii)                 Identifying the norms and standards of performance and responsibilities to ensure accountability.

(iii)                Incorporating systematic maintenance of data and induction of information technology tools at every step through prescription of record keeping and electronic data processing; and

(iv)               Identifying gaps in procedures, non-standard practices in various sections and incorrect practices compared with provisions of various rules and prescribing correct procedures.

 

In the process of drafting the Manual, keeping in view the need both to set high standards and also have an implementable Manual, several rounds of discussions were held with the officers and staff of the various sections in order to identify the information needs, set high but implementable standards and ensure adequate coordination between different parts of the system.

 

The first draft of the Manual was circulated in April 2000, and training of staff was conducted in respect of provisions of the various Chapters.  The feedback on this account and suggestions from the officers have been utilised in revising the draft Manual.  As a result, errors have been corrected, more detailed and systematic procedures have been set in various cases and many areas of work which had inadvertently escaped notice, have been included in the scope of the Manual.

 

In addition, many changes have become necessary due to computerisation of work and use of customised application softwares. Since the induction of Information Technology into the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is of a recent origin, many of the procedures and practices are still undergoing change. Efforts have been made to incorporate as many of these changes as possible but since the system is still evolving, the final word cannot be said to have been written.

 

In view of this, and also to identify the remaining gaps, shortcomings and errors, it is intended that the present version of the Manual be put into implementation and provisions brought into general use through a system of training and enforced through a system of inspections. It is hoped that the feedback will be analysed and documented in order to further revise the Manual in about 5 years time.

 

By its very nature, the task of preparing Manual of Office Procedure has been a collective effort. Almost all officers of the Secretariat have directly or indirectly participated in the process. Their contribution is acknowledged collectively. Thanks in particular are due to Shri Vijay Kumar, Joint Secretary who took considerable pains in going through the material received from the Sections, having discussions with officers at various levels and preparing a workable text of the Manual, Shri O.D. Sharma, Deputy Secretary (since retired) Smt. Subhashree Panigrahi, Executive Officer who coordinated the entire process, Shri Digamber Singh, Senior Clerk, and Shri Jitender Kumar Madan, Junior Clerk who did the entire word processing and proof reading etc.