AP govt to initiate action against officials for negligence in GO

Hyderabad, Feb 25 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh government today said it would take suitable action against the official concerned for negligence in scrutinising the phrasing of the draft of a government Order (GO) which endorsed a check on the defamatory and baseless media reports.

All the opposition and the journalists unions protested against the GO alleging that the state government was trying to impose curbs on press freedom through it.

The government had subsequently cancelled the GO on February 23 .

The file indicated that the Additinal Secretary, General Administration, had been negligent in scrutinising the phrasing of the draft GO,938 an official release said here.

The GO was not in the language in which government orders were required to be issued. The functionaries of the Law Department had not pointed out the poor drafting of the GO.

Also, the issuing of the GO in the name of the Chief Secretary, without his initial, was violation of the Business Rules.

The Assistant Secretary prepared a draft GO, approved by the Additional Secretary and marked for examination by the Finance and Law Departments. After its clearance at the level of Deputy Secretary in the Finance deparatment and thereafter in the Law department, the GO was authenticated for isssue by the Additional Secretary and was then issued as GO 938 on February 20 in the name of the Chief Secretary.

This draft was not shown to the Secretary, Chief Secretary or to Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Certain infirmities in the GO were apparent and as per the standing Business Rules of the Secretariat, a Government Order issued in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Government, must be auhthenticated in draft by the Chief Secretary on file. This had not been done, the release added.

UNI