Citizen's charter bill tabled in Parliament

The citizen's charter bill that spells out responsibilities of govt depts towards citizens, their right to delivery of goods and services, and redressal of their grievances in a time-bound manner was introduced in LS on Tuesday.Minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) V Narayanasamy introduced the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011, which was cleared by the cabinet earlier this month.The Bill makes it mandatory for every public department to publish a citizen's charter and address grievances within 30 days, failing which the official concerned would face action, including a fine of up to Rs 50,000 (to be recovered from his salary) and a disciplinary proceedings.The bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee that will prepare its report and submit it to the house before the legislation is debated and passed.Here are some of the salient features of the legislation:Every ministry and department of the government will have to address people's complaints within 15 days, failing which action will be taken against the officer concerned.Under the bill, the government plans to set up a grievance redressal mechanism to tackle graft in the lower ranks of administration, a move that comes against the backdrop of Team Anna's anti-corruption campaign.

Ø       The law will set up a mechanism similar to the RIT Act, and seek to have a "citizens' charter" to deal with public grievances.

Ø       Under the proposed law, every public authority will have to designate a Grievance Redress Officer (GRO) right from the block level up to the Central government.

Ø       The GRO will receive and act on grievances from the public on services that they are entitled to under any law or government policy, and if he believes that the public servant responsible has wilfully neglected to deliver the goods or services, he can recommend action under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Ø       The bill also allows an aggrieved party to approach the Lokpal in case they are unhappy with the decision of the Grievance Redressal Commission.