New Delhi, Sept 1: The Delhi government headed by chief minister Sheila Dikshit has accepted an Anna-type Citizens charter under which government officials must deliver services within a fixed time frame or pay a penalty.This will be enforced fully from September 15, officials claimed on Wednesday.
The state government has initiated reforms in delivery of key services like issue of driving licence and ration card and registration of births and deaths in a time-bound manner as per a state legislation approved this March.
The Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act is being enforced at a time activist Anna Hazare is demanding a citizens' charter for all government departments that imposes penalty for delayed services.
The state legislation being enforced makes time-bound delivery a right of all citizens and imposes a personal penalty ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 200 a day on defaulting government officials.
“The legislation will come into force from September 15. It will improve accountability and rid our system of irregularities,” a senior official said.All officials of the revenue, food and civil supplies, transport and the trade and taxes department as well as those of the MCD and NDMC are bound by the legislation.
According to the legislation, a maximum penalty of Rs 5,000 can be imposed on officials for failing to deliver services. For deciding financial penalty, the legislation also provides for setting up of a “competent authority”.
The legislation says for issuance of ration cards, it should not take more than 45 days while MCD and NDMC should not take more than seven working days for issuance of registration of birth and death certificates.
The transport department should not take more than one day to renew permanent driving license while learner's driving licence should be issued on the same day of filing of the application.The Act requires the selected departments to commit to service-level agreements (SLAs) declaring time-frame required to deliver services to the citizens.
