V.Narayanasamy
The Rights of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of Their Grievances Bill, 2011, was introduced in the Lok Sabha yesterday by V.Narayanasamy, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. (Hmmm … Couldn’t they keep the name shorter?!)
Under the Bill, every government department and public authority mus publish a Citizen’s Charter listing all the services services – alongwith the timeframe for such services – it has to render.
Under the proposed bill, every ministry and department must act within 30 days on any complaint received from the public; if the authority fails to act within the stipulated period, an appeal can be filed with a specified higher authority who must, in turn, dispose of it within 30 days.
Under the provisions of the bill, every public authority has to designate a Grievance Redress Officer (GRO) down from the block level right up to the Central Government level. The Grieveance Redress Officer receives and acs upon complaints from the public in respect of the services they are entitled to.
The GRO must provide a written response to a complainant about the action taken in the matter. If a complainant doesn’t receive such response within 30 days of the complaint, an appeal can be submitted to a designated higher auhority; the designated authority can then summon and question the officer who will ahve to compensate the complainant in addition to paying a fine.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the decision in respect of the complaint made, he may appeal to the appropriate Grievance Redressal Commissions to be set up under the Bill.
A decision of the Grievance Redressal Commission at the State Level or Central level may be contested by appealing to the Lokayukta or Lokpal as the case may be.
The Bill covers all departments and schemes of the Central Government. State Governments have o devise similar mechanisms for the schemes and departments within their purview.
Tags: Citizens' Charter Bill
