PIB News Update: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has informed that The15th edition of the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure(CSMOP) 2019 released in December 2019 lays down in Table 8.1 (page 81) the specific provisions for correspondence with Members of Parliament. The Manual of 2019,lays down that communications received from Members of Parliament should be attended to promptly. Where a communication is addressed to a Minister, it should, as far as practicable replied to by the Minister himself. In other cases, a reply should normally be issued over the signature of an officer of the rank of Secretary only. Where a communication is addressed to the head of an attached or subordinate office, Public Sector Enterprise, Financial Institutions (including Nationalised banks) Division/ Branch in-charge in a Ministry/ Department/ Organization, it should be replied to by the addressee himself.
In policy matters, however, the officer should have prior consultation with higher authorities before sending a reply. It should however be ensured that minimum level at which such replies are sent to Members of Parliament is that of Under Secretary and that also in a polite letter form only. Normally information sought by a Member should be supplied unless it is of such a nature that it would have been denied to him even if asked for on the floor of the Houses of Parliament. As far as possible, for correspondence with Members of Parliament, pre-printed replies should be avoided. The Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedures 2019 lays down the broad processes/procedures to be followed in Ministries/Departments in Government of India. The State Governments are governed by their respective Manuals of Office Procedures.