National
Government to set up ‘Immediate Problem Solving Centre’ at PMO
The government is set establish an Immediate Problem Solving Centre at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in order to address legal, institutional and administrative issues at priority projects and service delivery of the government agencies.The government is set establish an Immediate Problem Solving Centre at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in order to address legal, institutional and administrative issues at priority projects and service delivery of the government agencies.
The centre, to be known as ‘Action Room’, will have a separate set of staff under the PMO secretary. Armed with video conferencing and telephony facilities, the centre will allow the prime minister to instruct the ministers, secretaries and project chiefs directly to instantly address the issues that arise in key priority projects and service delivery, according to PMO officials.
“The concept of this centre has been introduced as several projects, including national pride projects, are running behind schedule due to various reasons,” said PMO Spokesperson Binod Bahadur Kunwar. “It will also address the problems causing delays in public service delivery and governance related issues.”
The PMO action room will help solve the problems at different ministries through cross-ministry coordination, among others. “In fact, the action room will be developed as a body to keep tabs on the monitoring bodies in the ministries to ensure timely completion of project works and service delivery,” said a PMO official.
Based on complaints received, the centre will resolve problems by establishing direct channel of communications among ministries and agencies. “Should there arise a situation that calls fro a direct invention from the PM or the chief secretary, it will make recommendations for such actions,” said the
official.
The PMO is looking for space to setting up the action room. It has already arranged a team of staff, including a secretary, a joint-secretary, an under-secretary and three section officers. It plans to add some technical staff. The government is drafting a regulation to govern operations of the action room and establish a mechanism for monitoring and solving problems at the ministry levels.
The PMO is preparing to send regulation to the Cabinet, proposing formation of two separate Immediate Problem Solving Committees at each ministry—one under the respective ministers and another headed by the secretary. “A secretary-led committee at the ministry will meet frequently and seek to solve problems hindering project execution and service delivery,” said the PMO official. “If the secretary-led committee fails to solve the issues, the minister-led committee will try to address them.”
The proposed regulation has also envisaged a high-level committee under the PM that will take a call on the issues if a particular ministry fails to solve them. The PM-led committee will include ministers from the ministries concerned including home, finance, general administration, and the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission.