The next time you need a passport, a birth or death certificate, a driving licence or a ration card, you may not have to sweat it out: on Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved a Bill to promote transparency and accountability in the government's delivery systems for its citizens, a senior official confirmed.
The draft Bill will now be referred to the Ministries of Law, Home Affairs and Personnel and Training, after which it will go straight to Parliament.
But Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011, may not find easy passage in Parliament, with the BJP saying it would vote against the version cleared by the Cabinet, which saw it as a “direct intrusion on the domain of the States.”
The Union government resorting to item no 8 of List III to give force to the Citizens’ Charter Bill, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, violated the Constitution’s federal spirit. While the Centre could enact a Citizens’ Charter for Central services, it should not encroach upon the States’ domain — at best, it could suggest a model law, he maintained, adding that Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh had already enacted Citizen Charter Acts or Public Services Guarantee Acts.
However, the Bill that was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, has already been considered by a Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Officials say this law will be more effective in tackling corruption at the grassroots than the Lokpal Bill that was drafted after a civil society protest led by activist Anna Hazare.
The Bill deals with government departments that deal directly with citizens: they include constitutional bodies, statutory authorities, public-private partnerships, NGOs substantially funded by the government and companies that provide services under a statutory obligation.
Citizens’ charter
These authorities will be directed to publish a citizens’ charter detailing the services they offer, the quality of services to be provided, as well as timelines of delivery. Penalties ranging from Rs. 250 to a maximum of Rs. 50,000 a day will be imposed on officials who fail to deliver services in time. It mandates the establishment, both at the Centre and in the States, of public grievance redress commissions that will be permitted to refer a case for investigation to the Lokpal wherever there is evidence of corruption.
Keywords: Time-bound delivery of services bill, Cabinet approval, government services, passports, government certificates, ration cards
It is indeed a good move. Let us not always take a negative attitude. Gradually, if not immediately, something good would emerge. Loopholes if any can always be plugged. I commend the move of the government and wish this and similar move a success.
The new legislation is welcome. But let us not forget that mere
enactment of a new law would not change the existing scenario in many
government departments whom are supposed to follow the law. We have
seen how good legislation in the form of Right to Information Act and
the Consumer Protection Act has not been successful in bringing about
desirable changes in the attitude of the bureaucracy or of suppliers
of goods and services to consumers at large. Hence we need to study
past experience about the two Acts mentioned above and then take
suitable steps to ensure that ‘Right of Citizens for Time Bound
delivery of Goods & Services Act’ becomes a successful legislation and
fulfills the citizens’ demand about time-bound delivery of goods and
services.
The effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed Act depends on how the Commission is constituted and instituted and if a citizen is aggrieved with the decision of the Commission he/she can appeal even to the court
This would definitely reduce corruption.
"According to its provisions, a person aggrieved by the decision of the commission may prefer an appeal before the Lokpal at the Centre (in case of decision by the Centre’s public grievances redressal commission) and the Lokayuktas in the States." Such a statement dilutes the effectiveness of the bill being imposed. Why such a statement? I think such a statement makes the Lokpal ineffective and encourages politicians to benefit from such a loose remark. The bill should be taken seriously and converted into a law.
It is a sad reflection on the sorry state of affairs in this country.
That a statute is required to make these babus do what they are duty
bound to do is quite shameful. One wonders if the poor public will have
the courage to invoke the provisions of this statute fearing a backlash
from the highly unionized Govt. staff.
...odisha govt. has implemented it few months ago...
I wish such moves by the government had come a few decades ago. I remember the telephone my father applied for and refused to pay a bribe. It took him 5 years to get a connection and that too because a telecom engineer took pity on him and did something to help. I hope the people who sat at their desks in the telecommunications office drinking tea and reading kumudam and waiting for the bribes from the public will realize that their time is running out. I think Hindu should feature such articles with a picture of the electricity board, CMMDA, railway stations, RTO etc and other public services manned by vultures
First let them implement in respect of death certificate legal heir certificate which will benefit the common man The bill should be passed immediately
Similarly, Time bound deliveries in litigations will be the biggest
booster for the development and economy growth. Unfortunately the
delay in this area has become the biggest business for people involved
in it at every corner of the country and is the biggest bottleneck in
growth. This is an informal business of a very large scale running at
all levels in the country.
Can one imagine the number of man hours lost each day at each level in
every corner of the country? Can you also imagine the flow of money on
pursuing these litigations and enormous wastage of such large scale
wealth of the country on unproductive affair? The adverse impact is on
the majority of poor population? Why can't government take steps to
make deliveries of judgement time bound to save the wastage of
national wealth and precious man hours.This can be utilised in
improving the quality of life and economy growth. It's a belief now
that for any negative impacts just file a case and shut it for
generations to pass.
This has already been implemented in Karnataka under the 'Sakaala' scheme. Nevertheless, it is nice that now time bound services have been made a fundamental right.
READ BTW THE LINES >>>person aggrieved by the decision of the commission may prefer an appeal before the Lokpal at the Centre<<<
What is the point of this non-sense process when topmost appellatte body "Lokpal" is toothless under fully control of govt and it has no power to take direct action.
This process will force babus to become more loyal to political class (ministers), because "Lokpal" has no real powers, it can only recommend to a ministers to take action against babus.
This process is not going to make any difference to the problems to ordinary person, it will certainly help ministers to exploit babus and you will see more babus touching ministers feet.
>> person aggrieved by the decision of the commission may prefer an appeal before the Lokpal at the Centre <<
What is the point of this non-sense process when the topmost appellate body is toothless and has no power to take direct action or initiate an investigation on its own
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