The Government took a major step towards improving the quality of governance, by introducing a Bill which will make timely delivery of services by public authorities a universal right for citizens.

The Bill proposes to lay down timelines within which goods and services will have to be made available by public authorities.

Any public authority official found guilty of not delivering goods and services within this stipulated timeframe can be asked to pay a penalty of up to Rs 50,000. Not only this, disciplinary proceeding will also be initiated against him or her.

The Bill titled ‘The right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances' was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Bill also provides for giving the penalty amount as compensation to the aggrieved person. The Bill, once enacted, will be applicable all over the country, except Jammu and Kashmir.

Within six months of the commencement of this Act, every public authority will have to publish a ‘Citizen's charter'. This charter will specify all the categories of goods supplied and the services rendered by a specific authority, as well as the time required for delivering such goods or services.

The charter will also have details about the name of the officials or agency responsible for delivery, the conditions for getting goods and services and the class of persons eligible.

This charter will notify quantitative and tangible parameters such as weight, size and frequency of the goods and the services. It will have details about the complaint redress mechanism, including the time within which any complaint is to be disposed of, and the name of the complaint redressal officer.

The head of the department in the authority will be responsible for updates every year. He will also ensure the accuracy of the content. Every authority will be required to set up a customer care centre, a call centre, a help desk and a support centre for information and facilitation.

The authority will be required to, within six months of the commencement of the act, designate as many officers as may be necessary as Grievance Redressal Officers in all administrative offices at the Central, State, district, sub-district, municipality and panchayat levels.

All complaints need to be made in writing and an acknowledgement is to be issued within two days. The grievance will need to be remedied within thirty days from the date of complaint. The grievance redress officer, if convinced that the official responsible for the delivery of goods or services has been wilfully negligent, can also make an observation for registering a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. He can also recommend to the designated authority for award of penalty and compensation.

If an individual is not satisfied with the redress, he or she can appeal to the designated authority within 30 days of receipt of the report. The appeal also needs to be addressed within 30 days from the date of receipt of the appeal. Appeal against the decision of the designated authority can be made in the State or Central Public Redressal Commission. After that, the dissatisfied individual can knock on the doors of the Lokpal at the central level and the Lokayukta at the state level.

Currently, various public authorities have charters, but they are voluntary in nature.

>Shishir.s@thehindu.co.in

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