As per this DNA report today, Bihar state has notified Right to Services (RSA) Act, and just look at what it promises to do
- Covers 30 citizen services, like police verification for passport, repairing fault in electricity connection etc.
- Stipulates timelines for each of these 30 services. Ex: police verification report for passport - 7 days. Caste certificate - 15 days. Electricity connection repair - 4 hours.
- If the service is not "delivered " on time, public servants could face fines. Rs 250 per day, to maximum Rs 5000 !!
As per a quote in DNA
"People will no longer need to run around offices and grease the palms of employees to get their work done after this act", said (Nitish) Kumar
RSA Act, and/or transparent FIFO is the way to weed out corruption from citizen-government interactions. Bihar leads, while Karnataka waits. Both states have NDA governments in place. Just that the CM of one has more time for his citizens, and the other perhaps for his family and friends.
Comments
Right to Service - add to Jan Lokayukta Bill?
More than the citizen charter, can something on the lines of right to service act could be acted to Jan Lokayukta Bill proposal itself? Root of almost all corruption in public services is the "power" of the govt officer to deny or delay service.