To expedite delivery of public services, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday said service level agreements (SLAs) would come into force from September 15, eliminating the menace of touts from government offices.
Ms. Dikshit, who was speaking at the concluding session of a day-long conference on RTI and Citizen's Charter organised by Foundation for Peace, Harmony and Good Governance, said her government was committed towards ensuring more transparency and openness in governance.
Powerful public tools
“Delhi was the first State in the country to implement the RTI Act in 2001. The citizens must be aware of their rights to enable them to get information from government agencies. The Citizen's Charter together with RTI and Right to Service Delivery Act will become an extremely powerful tool for ensuring efficient and effective public service delivery. The Citizen's Charters of all major departments have been printed and are also available on the website of the State Government,” she added.
Elaborating on the service level agreements, the Chief Minister said her government had enacted the Delhi Right to Citizen to Time-Bound Delivery of Services-Act 2011 which envisages delivery of services to citizens in a time-bound manner, failing which the official will have to pay a penalty.
Another 40 services to be included
“At present, 32 services have been brought under its ambit. Another 40 services will be included in about a month. This will bring about a positive change in the work culture and eliminate corruption. The role of touts in government offices will be eliminated. With implementation of SLAs, people will be able to track the status of their applications electronically and their cases will be disposed of in a stipulated period resulting in overcoming delays and fast delivery of services. The officials responsible for delay shall have to pay compensatory cost at the rate of Rs.10 per day subject to a maximum of Rs.200,” she added.
