Citizen charter

Citizen charter

 

Introduction

A citizen’s charter is a document that represents a systematic effort of the government or an organization to focus on its commitment towards a citizen-centric administration in terms of service quality, information, consultation, non-discrimination, accessibility, grievance redressal, courtesy, and value for money. It also includes the organization’s expectations from citizens in terms of fulfilling the organization’s commitment. 

 

Historical background of citizen charter

  • The concept was first articulated and implemented by British Prime Minister John Major in 1991 as a national programme with a simple aim: to continuously improve the quality of public services for the people of the country so that these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users.
  • The programme was relaunched in 1998 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair which rechristened it Services First.

 

Citizen charter in India

  • The concept of a citizen's charter was first adopted in India in May 1997 at the "Conference of Chief Ministers of various States and Union Territories" in the national capital.
  • Nodal agency: The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances overseas citizen charter coordination, formulation, and implementation (DARPG).
  • The DARPG website lists more than 700 charters ratified by Indian government agencies.
  • Making a law: Citizens' Right to Timely Goods and Services Delivery and Grievance Redress Bill, 2011 (Citizens Charter) was presented to Lok Sabha in December 2011.
  • However, as a result of the Lok Sabha's dissolution in 2014, the bill expired.
  • Not legally Binding: Citizens' charters are not binding legal contracts. They are only recommendations to improve the provision of services to citizens.

 

Recommendations by Second ARC Report

  •  Simply declaring the Charter will have no effect on how the Organization operates. It is critical to establish favorable conditions for employees through engagement and training.
  • The creation of Citizens' Charters should be a decentralized process, with the main office offering broad guidelines.
  •  The charter must be developed not only by senior specialists, but also through contact with the cutting-edge employees who will ultimately implement it, as well as with the user.
  • Citizens' Charters must establish firm commitments in quantitative terms.
  • Citizens' Charter should explicitly state the relief that the organization is obligated to provide if it fails to meet the promised standards of service.
  • Since the Citizens' Charter is a living document, it should be reviewed at least every six months.
  •  Encourage cooperation among government agencies, civil society organizations, and individuals in developing, implementing, and monitoring Citizen's Charters.

 

Problems faced in implementation of Citizen’s charter:

  •   Tendency to have a uniform Citizen’s charter for all offices under the parent organization. Citizen’s charter has still not been adopted by all Ministries/Departments. This overlooks local issues.
  •  Devoid of participative mechanisms in a majority of cases, not formulated through a consultative process with cutting edge staff who will finally implement it.
  •  Charters are rarely updated making it a one-time exercise, frozen in time.
  • lack of meaningful and succinct Citizen’s charter, absence of critical information that end-users need to hold agencies accountable.
  •  Only a small percentage of end-users are aware of the commitments made in the Citizen’s charter since effective efforts of communicating and educating the public about the standards of delivery promise have not been undertaken.
  • End-users, Civil society organizations and NGOs are not consulted when Citizen’s charter is drafted. Since a Citizen’s charter primary purpose is to make public service delivery more citizen-centric, consultation with stakeholders is a must.
  • Making it difficult to assess whether the desired level of service has been achieved or not.
  • Little interest shown by the organizations in adhering to their Citizen’s charter. since there is no citizen friendly mechanism to compensate the citizen if the organization defaults.

 

 Importance of the Citizens' Charter in India

  • Promote transparency and accountability of government organizations towards citizens. Citizens know what services they are entitled to and the timeline for service delivery.
  • Empower citizens by informing them of their rights as users of public services. They can demand services as a right.
  • Reduce corruption and arbitrary actions of government officials by clearly stating citizens' entitlements.
  • Make administration responsive and citizen-centric by fixing timelines for providing services.
  • Improve efficiency in operations and service delivery through standardization and simplification of procedures.
  • Provide standards for assessing and evaluating performance. The charter is a benchmark against which the quality of public services can be monitored.
  • Serve as a tool for bringing continual improvements in public services based on feedback.
  • Facilitate grievance redressal for citizens whose services are denied or delayed. The charter provides a reference point for filing complaints.
  • Promote people's participation in governance by seeking inputs on charter formulation and implementation.
  • Reorient government organizations towards their role as public service providers accountable to citizens.

 

Objectives of Citizen Charter:

  • Quality: Citizens’ charter strives to improve the quality of services offered by the departments and required by the public. Example – Information requested through RTI is provided in digital format in well readable format.
  • Choice: Government should offer various choices to people, so that people can avail services according to their priorities and choices. Example: People are given choices to get the LPG connection through cylinder or piped connection.
  • Standards: Citizens’ charter specifies the standards for various services which makes people aware of the services to be offered by the government. Example: Water quality standards offered by various private agencies and public agencies are published, which allows people to select service standards according to their needs.
  • Value: Services are offered by the government from tax payers money. Government strives to strike the balance between spending the amount judiciously and improving the satisfaction of people. Example: Information provided through RTI is given in digital format, this saves the taxpayers money as less money is spent on papers. This also improves the satisfaction of people as the information is available in a timely manner.
  • Accountability: Citizens’ Charter enforces the accountability of the department as citizens are aware of the service standards and actual performance of the services.
  • Transparency: Citizens’ Charter follows various rules, procedures and schemes to make available the services to the people. Any deviation from these gives the opportunity to people to seek the grievance redressal from the departed concerned. Example: Jan Soochana Portal of Rajasthan government.

Limitations & Challenges

  • Lack of awareness and knowledge among the people, hence absence of trust among service seekers.
  • There is no mention of citizen’s responsibility.
  • Inadequate staff training leads to the charter serving merely as a draft and not being implemented properly.
  • The citizen’s charter is not legally enforceable.
  • In a majority of cases, the Charters are not formulated through an inclusive consultation.
  • It has been criticized for not taking the needs of the differently abled and senior citizens into account while framing.
  • The specified standards are frequently not quantifiable, rendering the entire effort worthless.
  • Organizations are regarded to be unwilling to execute and adhere to their charters.
  • There is a propensity to have a standardized citizen's charter for all organizations, departments, and so on that are part of the same parent organization. The charter should be tailored to the needs and operations of the specific office/agency.
  • Only a few hundred charters have been accepted throughout the country. In terms of universal charter acceptance, there is still a long way to go.

 

Way Forward

  • Citizens and staff need to be consulted at every stage of formulation of charter.
  •  Orientation of staff about the salient features   
  • A Citizens’ Charter cannot be an end in itself, it is rather a means to an end - a tool to ensure that the citizen is always at the heart of any service delivery mechanism.