President returns Bill on timely delivery of services

Legislation proposed salary cut for officials in case of delays

President Pranab Mukherjee has returned an amendment Bill cleared by the Delhi Assembly seeking time-bound delivery of services by government departments. The President has sought clarification on some issues in it.

Has sought clarifications

A senior Delhi government official said that the President had returned the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Bill, which was passed by the Assembly in November 2015. The Bill proposes that salaries of bureaucrats be automatically deducted in cases of delay in delivery of government services.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had described the passage of the Bill as a “huge victory” in the fight against corruption. The Delhi government said that the amendments seeks to rectify the current Act, which has put the “entire onus” of getting compensation, fixing the responsibility for delayed services on the citizen.

The official said that with the return of the latest Bill, five of the 17 Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly, including a Bill related to increasing minimum wages and salaries of Delhi MLAs and Ministers, were in the pipeline.

Salary hike Bill

The Member of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi (salaries, allowances, pension, etc.) Amendment Bill, a proposed legislation that seeks a hike of nearly 400% in the existing salaries and perks of the city legislators has been returned based on an irregular definition of the Delhi government as an entity.

A modified proposal by the Delhi government to revise minimum wages in the Capital is expected to replace the Bill that couldn’t procure the President’s assent.