Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed his ministerial colleagues to clear the pending files and submit progress reports to him periodically.

He has also directed the ministers to make themselves available at office in Vidhana Soudha twice a week to attend to the pending files. The directions come in the wake of Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa making critical comments against the Siddaramaiah government’s performance.

Official sources said that not less than two lakh files are pending at various levels in the government. To clear this huge backlog, the ministers would have to pay special attention by attending to office.

The chief minister clears not less than 50 to 60 files a day whenever he is in Bangalore. A minimum of three to four hours is spent on taking decisions on files, it is said.

On Saturday, interacting with the media, Law Minister T?B Jayachandra said that Siddaramaiah will tour the State to oversee the progress of clearing the pending files.
Jayachandra said the government is trying to clear files pending for three to four years on an immediate basis.

“All ministers, including the chief minister, will sit in their respective offices to clear pending files for at least two days a week,” said Jayachandra.

The law minister said the government has also formed a committee under his purview to take stock of the delay in pending projects, across departments.

“Till date, the committee has met seven times to discuss various projects which are being delayed. There are also chances of combining similar projects undertaken by two different government departments,” said the minister.