Amid the demand for an early tabling of the Transparency and Social Accountability Bill in the Assembly, the Congress government in Rajasthan has decided to strengthen the public hearing system in the village panchayats for a prompt redressal of grievances. Activists have been staging an indefinite “jawabdehi dharna” on the issue at the Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur.
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The Congress had made a promise to bring the legislation in its manifesto for the 2018 Assembly election. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has instructed the officials to ensure that the grievances are redressed at the initial level, obviating the need for the people to spend time and energy in approaching the higher authorities.
Mr. Gehlot said at a review meeting here the platforms such as Sampark portal, helpline and hearings at the Chief Minister’s residence should be fully utilised to ensure quick disposal of people’s problems. The complaints regarding crimes should be promptly addressed and resolved to provide justice to the affected people, he said.
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Ashwini Bhagat, Principal Secretary, Administrative Reforms Department, said more than 77.69 lakh complaints were lodged on Sampark portal between August 2017 and February 2022, and 76.86 lakh of them had been resolved.
Mr. Gehlot made an announcement for the enactment of the law on the subject in his budget speech in the Assembly on February 23. Activists staging the dharna have announced that their agitation would continue until the statute is enacted pointing out that a similar announcement was made in the budget speech of 2019 as well.
A committee on transparency and social accountability appointed by the State government had submitted its report along with the draft of the proposed legislation in 2020. It laid emphasis on evolving a legal framework to guarantee accountability to the citizens and highlighted the limitations in the existing administrative system which prevented timely delivery of services.
The draft Bill has incorporated the provisions for transparency in governance, citizens’ participation, public hearings, social audit, information and facilitation centres, decentralisation of the process and establishment of an independent grievance redressal structure. The mechanism for redressing grievances will start from village panchayats and involve hearings at the block level.
The activists had taken out a “jawabdehi yatra”, covering 13 districts earlier this year, to bring the issue of accountability to the forefront as an extension of the Right to Information, which had its roots in Rajasthan. The march was suspended after it reached Kota on January 7, in view of the surge in the COVID-19 infection cases.