Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of Standing Committee of Personnel Public Grievances, Law and Justice Shantaram Naik on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to recommend to the President of India to issue an ordinance in the matter of The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of the of their Grievances Bill.
The Congress MP from Goa said it is a historical legislation which could not be passed due to non-cooperation of certain political parties. Presently in Goa, Mr. Naik told The Hindu on Saturday that besides this bill, ordinances could also be issued in the matter of other important bills which could not be passed for no fault of the government.
He argued that on the subjects like those dealing with citizens valuable rights, an Ordinance is fully justified, and warned that people who create obstacles in the matter of issuing ordinances for such people-oriented legislations, on technical grounds, will be failing in their duty towards the nation.
He said that the bill provides that designated public authorities has to provide services, which includes goods and services, including functions, obligations, responsibilities or duties to be provided and rendered, to the citizens in a time- bound manner. His Committee submitted the report on the bill to the Parliament on August 28, 2012 and he was hoping that the bill would become a law at the earliest.
He said the bill provides for publishing of Citizen Charters within six months enumerating the goods and services provided by the respective departments specifying mandatory time limit for delivery of such services.
Mr. Naik claimed that similar legislations enacted by a few States were not stringent enough, and that, they have included only limited services whereas the Central bill encompasses all the goods and services.
In the Central legislation, he said, the people are free to complain about the defaults in implementing, laws, schemes of the government, policies, orders etc issued by the government from time to time. The Standing Committee has also recommended public-private partnership in providing services at facilitation centres, under which help of NGOs can also be taken, Mr. Naik said. The Standing Committee has also submitted vital reports on Constitutional and non Constitutional matters which could not see the light of the day, he lamented.
