Right to Public Services legislation

Right to Public Services legislation in India comprises statutory laws which guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services rendered by the Government to citizen and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant who is deficient in providing the service stipulated under the statute.[1] Right to Service legislation are meant to reduce corruption among the government officials and to increase transparency and public accountability.[2] Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to enact Right to Service Act on 18 August 2010 and Bihar was the second to enact this bill on 25 July 2011.[3] Several other states like Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand Maharashtra and West Bengal have introduced similar legislation for effectuating the right to service to the citizen.[4]

Framework

The common framework of the legislations in various states includes, granting of "right to public services", which are to be provided to the public by the designated official within the stipulated time frame. The public services which are to be granted as a right under the legislations are generally notified separately through Gazette notification. Some of the common public services which are to be provided within the fixed time frame as a right under the Acts, includes issuing caste, birth, marriage and domicile certificates, electric connections, voter’s card, ration cards, copies of land records, etc.[5][6]

On failure to provide the service by the designated officer within the given time or rejected to provide the service, the aggrieved person can approach the First Appellate Authority.[5] The First Appellate Authority, after making a hearing, can accept or reject the appeal by making a written order stating the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can order the public servant to provide the service to the applicant.[5][6]

An appeal can be made from the order of the First Appellate Authority to the Second Appellate Authority, who can either accept or reject the application, by making a written order stating the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can order the public servant to provide the service to the applicant or can impose penalty on the designated officer for deficiency of service without any reasonable cause, which can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000 or may recommend disciplinary proceedings.[5][6] The applicant may be compensated out of the penalty imposed on the officer. The appellate authorities has been granted certain powers of a Civil Court while trying a suit under Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, like production of documents and issuance of summon to the Designated officers and appellants.[6]

Implementing states
StateAct titleStatus
PunjabRight to Public Service Act, 2011Notified[7]
UttarakhandThe Uttarakhand Right to Service Act, 2011Notified[8]
Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh Lok Sewaon Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam, 2010Enacted[9]
BiharBihar Lok sewaon ka adhikar Adhiniyam, 2011Enacted[3]
DelhiDelhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011Notified[10]
JharkhandRight to Service Act, 2011Notified[11]
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011Notified[12]
RajasthanRajasthan Public Service Guarantee Act, 2011Notified[13][14]
Uttar PradeshJanhit Guarantee Act, 2011Enacted[15]
KeralaThe Kerala State Right to Service Act,2012Enacted[16]
KarnatakaThe Karnataka (Right Of Citizens to Time Bound Delivery Of Services) Bill, 2011Notified[17]
ChhattisgarhChhattisgarh Lok Seva Guarantee Bill, 2011Notified[18]
Jammu and KashmirThe Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011Notified[19]
OdishaOdisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012Notified[20]
AssamAssam Right to Public Services Act, 2012Notified[21]
Central GovernmentCitizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011Proposed[22]
GujaratGujarat (Right of Citizens to Public Services) Bill, 2013Enacted[23]
West BengalWest Bengal Right to Public Services Bill, 2013Notified[24]
GoaThe Goa (Right to Time-Bound Delivery of Public Services) Act, 2013Notified[25]
HaryanaThe Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014Notified[26]
MaharashtraMaharashtra Right to Public Services Ordinance, 2015[27]Notified[28]

References
  1. "Punjab clears Right to all services Act". 8 June 2011. Chennai, India: The Hindu. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  2. "Corruption watchdog hails Bihar, BIHAR govts as best service-providers". Times of India. 21 April 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  3. "Right to Service Act to come into force from tomorrow". 14 August 2011. Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  4. Behera, Chitta Ranjan. "RIGHT TO PUBLIC SERVICES BILL-STATES TO ACT TANDEM WITH JAN LOKPAL BILL". Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  5. "RIGHT TO SERVICE IN MADHYA PRADESH" (PDF). Governance Knowledge Center, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Pensions & Public Grievances, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2012.
  6. "CITIZENS' RIGHT TO PUBLIC SERVICE" (PDF). Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Pensions & Public Grievances, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  7. "Punjab govt notifies Right to Service Act". Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  8. "Uttarakhand implements Right to Service Act". 29 October 2011. Jagran Post. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  9. "Madhya Pradesh Public Service Guarantee Act". MightyLaws. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  10. "Delhi notifies Right to Service Act". Archived from the original on 21 April 2012.
  11. "Jharkhand Notifies Right to Service Act". Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  12. "Himachal Pradesh to implement Right to Service Act from November 16". Jagran Post. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  13. "Rajasthan Guaranteed Delivery of Public Services (official page)". Rajasthan Government. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  14. "Rajasthan Guaranteed Delivery of Public Services Act implemented". Times of India. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  15. "Right to Service enforced in Uttar Pradesh from today". Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  16. "Public service guarantee law enacted".
  17. "Service, guaranteed: Sakala comes into effect on Apr 2".
  18. "Notification of the Chhattisgarh Lok Seva Guarantee Rules, 2011" (PDF). Government of Chhattisgarh. 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  19. "Implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011" (PDF). Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  20. "House passes three Bills". Times of India. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  21. "Assam passes better services act". The Telegraph. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  22. "India unveils Bill for time-bound public services". Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  23. "Governor okays 14 of 18 bills". Times of India. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  24. "Bill passed for prompt delivery of public services in Bengal". Zee News. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  25. "Public service guarantee act effective today". Times of India. TNN. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  26. "Finally, Haryana notifies Right to Service Act, 2014". DailyPost. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  27. Maharashtra Right to Public Services Ordinance, 2015
  28. "Activists slam Maharashtra government's ordinance route for right to services". DNA. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
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