The Kerala government has issued a directive mandating that all official meetings and conferences be conducted online by default, especially when participants are required to travel long distances. This move is aimed at reducing official travel and improving administrative efficiency.
Government Order Issued
The state's Finance department issued the order on April 24, following the acceptance of recommendation no. 120 from the fourth report of the 4th Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC). The recommendation specifically called for government meetings and conferences to be conducted through video conferencing to reduce or minimise travel.
The order states that government meetings shall, by default, be conducted in online mode, particularly for participants required to attend from distant locations. Physical meeting venues will mandatorily have facilities enabling virtual participation.
Background and Expected Impact
The reform is part of the ARC's wider report on Personnel Reforms: Civil Service in Kerala, whose broader recommendations received government approval on December 9, 2024. The move is expected to significantly reduce routine travel by district-level officials to the state capital for review meetings, departmental conferences, and administrative discussions.
Officials noted that collectors and senior officers from northern districts frequently spend nearly an entire day travelling to and from Thiruvananthapuram for meetings that often last only a few hours. Besides reducing travel time and expenditure, the policy is also expected to cut TA/DA claims, fuel consumption, and logistical costs associated with large official gatherings.
The government is seeking to institutionalise administrative practices that became widespread during the Covid-19 pandemic, when departments increasingly relied on virtual coordination between the Secretariat and district offices.
Controversy Over Offline Meeting
However, the order has triggered discussion within bureaucratic circles after Chief Secretary A Jayathilak convened an offline meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday involving district collectors and senior officials from across the state, including from Kasaragod, the northernmost district. A farewell dinner hosted by the Chief Secretary was also held later in the day.
A senior IAS officer told TOI, Orders like these look progressive on paper, but the credibility is lost when the same system continues to summon officers physically for meetings that could easily be held online. You cannot ask district collectors to travel overnight from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram and then simultaneously preach reducing official travel with video conferencing.
About the Author: KP Sai Kiran is an Assistant Editor with The Times of India, based in the Thiruvananthapuram bureau, where he has been working since 2011. Over the years, he has reported from New Delhi and Kerala, covering subjects ranging from crime and courts to governance and public policy.
