Bangloreans get their charter; babus to be fined for delays

From now on, bureaucrats with ‘let-us-do-it-tomorrow’ attitude must change their work culture. Laziness and go-slow tactics to extract bribe from hapless citizens would soon boomerang against such officials, with the state cabinet on Friday deciding to implement the Citizens’ Charter in government offices with stringent time limits for delivering various services.

The cabinet has approved the draft Karnataka Citizens Services Guarantee Bill, setting specific time limits. Erring personnel will have to pay a fine of `20 for every day of delay in rendering the service. The government will soon issue an ordinance for its implementation, said law and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar on Friday.

The bill has been drafted after studying similar legislations in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir states.
The ordinance would cover 90 services provided by 10 departments, including rural development and panchayat raj, urban development, revenue, energy, finance and health.

The Citizens’ Charter makes it mandatory for all departments to appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer. Citizens can file complaints to the officer if listed services are not delivered within the stipulated time-frame. Erring officials would have to submit a written explanation or risk penal action if they fail to give a convincing reply for the delay. The fine of `20 for every day of delay of rendering the service will also be imposed on that official.

Officials who fail to change their work culture and have 25 complaints or more against them in an year would have to face department enquiry and penal action.

Sample this for its impact—bureaucrats will have to issue birth or death certificates within seven working days after the request is placed. Driving licences should be issue within 30 working days.

The list of all services and their respective time limits would be fixed in the next few days. Chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda will soon hold a meeting with principal secretaries of all departments to chalk out the deadlines. The initiative comes as part of the government’s assurance to fight corruption, provide responsive and transparent governance for the citizens.