Just about ₹95,000 has been claimed as compensation by those whose applications under Sakala scheme were disposed of after the stipulated period in the last six years. This is despite more than 50 lakh applications being cleared by various departments beyond the stipulated days over the years, officials say.
According to statistics available on the Sakala website, since its inception till November this year, 775 applications seeking compensation of ₹94,780 had come. The Revenue Department alone has seen a compensation claim of ₹75,560 with 602 applications filed.
In April this year, the number of applications stood at 732 and compensation of ₹88,880 had been disbursed, which means only 43 more applications seeking compensation came in the seven preceding months despite several thousand applications being processed beyond the due date, officials pointed out. A rough estimate based on the applications processed after the due date, according to an official in Sakala Mission, shows that at least ₹50 crore should have been paid out as compensation to citizens for overdue delays varying between a few days and several months. Under the rules, the compensation for delayed services at the rate of ₹20 per day after the stipulated time is to be paid by the government and later recover from the salary of the official who is responsible for the delay.
Currently, 852 services in 73 departments are covered under Sakala for quick disposal of applications.
“Most citizens, whose application for services were delayed, have not claimed compensation for the delay. At ₹20 per day in the current setup, we feel compensation is very low. One may end up spending more than what he/she gets as compensation, on transport and the amount of man-hours the applicant has to spend for running from pillar to post,” said an official in E-governance Department.”
The official said: “If an application is not processed on time in a rural area, the first appeal has to be made to the Assistant Commissioner and the second appeal with the Deputy Commissioner. Considering the distance between offices, an applicant may not be inclined to seek a compensation of ₹20 per day.”
Also, though many distraught applicants have approached Sakala Mission’s office after exhausting the appeals, nothing could be done since rules do not give any power to the mission to direct the departments to provide compensation, the official added.
