NEW DELHI: The 'aam aadmi' may soon receive services and grievance
redressal in specified timeframes, with the Centre initiating the
process to evolve citizen's charter for every Union government department despite the legislation concerned being stuck in political wrangling.
The cabinet secretariat is in discussions with Union ministries about citizen's/client's charters to fix the services and the timeline in which they should be delivered. Services rendered by the central government, such as export-import licences, environmental and other clearances and transferring funds to states could all become time-bound now.
It could revolutionise the delivery system at the Centre by putting the onus of expediting services and grievance redressal on the babu-driven establishment. The ability to keep grievances and requests endlessly pending is seen as the main reason behind corruption, with extraneous favours for officials emerging as the lubricant of the slothful machine. The infamous red tape is another manifestation of the systemic malaise.
Charter Congress' political gambit
The Centre's failed attempt to push through the legislation on grievance redressal in the just-concluded winter session of Parliament seems to have added urgency to the issue. Congress seems to be keen on winding up the major 'aam aadmi' plank outside of Parliament to ensure that it has the upper hand in the anti-graft debate which has been put on the national agenda by its bugbear Anna Hazare.
The stalemated law has put Congress on a weak wicket in comparison to states and regional parties which have already promulgated legislations for mandatory deadline-based service delivery. A citizen's charter without statutory backing may not be able to prescribe deterrent punishment for recalcitrant officials.
The cabinet secretariat, which kickstarted the initiative in November 2011, is learnt to have fixed January-end as the deadline to clinch the issue.
While most ministries have responded with 'services-and-timeline' schedules, the cabinet secretariat is using the consultation to refine the draft charters, even running them through expert bodies like Indian Institutes of Management.
The performance management cell of cabinet secretariat underlined the urgency by telling ministries that "quality citizen's/client's charters by all central departments is a significant step towards a transparent and responsive government".
The ministries, usually sceptical of moves putting them in a corner like their resistance to RTI Act, have had to respond positively. Giving them little margin to duck the charter this time, the cabinet secretariat has made citizen's charter an integral part of the Results-Framework Document, the mechanism to assess the performance of the ministry and the minister.
Sources said the citizen's charter is a mandatory indicator in the RFD with 2% weightage in the current assessment year. So much so that even timely submission of the final charter is being
The cabinet secretariat is in discussions with Union ministries about citizen's/client's charters to fix the services and the timeline in which they should be delivered. Services rendered by the central government, such as export-import licences, environmental and other clearances and transferring funds to states could all become time-bound now.
It could revolutionise the delivery system at the Centre by putting the onus of expediting services and grievance redressal on the babu-driven establishment. The ability to keep grievances and requests endlessly pending is seen as the main reason behind corruption, with extraneous favours for officials emerging as the lubricant of the slothful machine. The infamous red tape is another manifestation of the systemic malaise.
Charter Congress' political gambit
The Centre's failed attempt to push through the legislation on grievance redressal in the just-concluded winter session of Parliament seems to have added urgency to the issue. Congress seems to be keen on winding up the major 'aam aadmi' plank outside of Parliament to ensure that it has the upper hand in the anti-graft debate which has been put on the national agenda by its bugbear Anna Hazare.
The stalemated law has put Congress on a weak wicket in comparison to states and regional parties which have already promulgated legislations for mandatory deadline-based service delivery. A citizen's charter without statutory backing may not be able to prescribe deterrent punishment for recalcitrant officials.
The cabinet secretariat, which kickstarted the initiative in November 2011, is learnt to have fixed January-end as the deadline to clinch the issue.
While most ministries have responded with 'services-and-timeline' schedules, the cabinet secretariat is using the consultation to refine the draft charters, even running them through expert bodies like Indian Institutes of Management.
The performance management cell of cabinet secretariat underlined the urgency by telling ministries that "quality citizen's/client's charters by all central departments is a significant step towards a transparent and responsive government".
The ministries, usually sceptical of moves putting them in a corner like their resistance to RTI Act, have had to respond positively. Giving them little margin to duck the charter this time, the cabinet secretariat has made citizen's charter an integral part of the Results-Framework Document, the mechanism to assess the performance of the ministry and the minister.
Sources said the citizen's charter is a mandatory indicator in the RFD with 2% weightage in the current assessment year. So much so that even timely submission of the final charter is being
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