Right to Service Bill ensures quick action

The Assembly will witness the piloting and passage of a landmark piece of legislation this week. The Kerala State Right to Service Bill will be introduced in the House on Monday and after scrutiny by the Subject Committee, it will be passed on Wednesday.

The Bill seeks to give every eligible person the right to obtain government services within a timeframe. It provides for effective, time-bound redress of grievances of citizens, delivery of services to the public and making government servants liable in case of default.

In the first phase, 13 government services and nine services related to the Police Department will come under the purview of the legislation. The services provided by any government department, local self-government institution, State public sector undertaking or a statutory body will come under its purview.

The Bill provides for payment of penalty for failure to provide service without a sufficient and reasonable cause. The liability of paying fine rests with the designated officer, and the amount will not be less than Rs. 500 and not more than Rs. 5,000.

The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill says the legislation will provide for a system whereby the public can make government servants answerable in terms of their functions, duties, commitments and obligations towards the people. The people will be made aware of the rights, obligations and entitlements in relations to these.

The Right to Service Act is a natural corollary to the publication of the Citizen’s Charter and the Right to Information Act, which has been introduced to ensure transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the administration, besides strengthening the relationship between citizens and the service providers, namely the government.

Section 3 of the Bill says every government department, Head of the department, local self-government institution and statutory body will, within six months of the commencement of the Act, notify the services that will be rendered by each of them and the designated officers for providing services and the stipulated time limit for doing so.

The Bill provides for a two-tier appellate system to redress grievances. Section 5 of the Bill underlines the duty of the designated officer, who, on receipt of an application for service, will provide it or reject the application within the time limit, which will start from the day the application is received. In case of rejection, the officer will be required to state in writing the reasons for it.

The Bill lays down the procedures for filing appeals and the method of handling appeals by the first and second appellate authorities. The two appellate authorities will have the powers of a civil court in matters of requiring production and inspection of documents, issuing summons for hearing the designated officer and the appellant and any other matter that may be prescribed.

The Bill has provisions that empower the government to issue orders for the purpose of removing difficulties, if any, which may arise in giving effect to the provisions of the Act.