Does Assam need present size of the administration?

GUWAHATI, September 10: Serious thinking is needed as to whether the present size of the administration is needed in Assam where the productivity of the government employees is very low, according to economist and chairman of the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi), Jayanta Madhab. He said the state has at present 5,50,000 people on its payroll. About 70 per cent of the budget goes in paying salaries to them. Madhab, a former director of the Asian Development Bank, said moreover most NEDFi entrepreneurs have the complaint that they have to grease the palms of the people concerned at every step in state government offices to get their things done. He said recently a Federation of Industries and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) report said that to install a diesel generating set in any of the plants the entrepreneurs need to get permissions from the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB). The concerned files have to travel through 29 desks and it takes between six and 12 months to get the final clearance, the FINER report said. Madhab said, "In my opinion the state administration can be run with one-third of its present size. Assam today has 23 districts. Andhra Pradesh, two-and-half times larger than Assam, with a population of over 6.65 crore, has also 23 districts, while Gujarat has 19. "If proliferation of these districts and sub-divisions would have helped in bringing the state administration closer to the people and decision-making made quicker that would have been beneficial.