Sisodia tables time-bound services bill

The Delhi government presented in the Assembly an amendment Bill to assure time-bound services and compensation to citizens in keeping with the AAP regime’s promise to give clean and efficient governance.

The fate of the Bill, which is likely to be passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, is uncertain as the constitutional process of seeking Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s approval for tabling the Bill in the Assembly has not been taken.

A change in the definition of the word “government” by replacing the word “Lieutenant Governor” with the “Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi” in the bill showed the government’s intention to assert itself even if it is not constitutionally empowered to change the definition without seeking the Central government or Lieutenant Governor’s approval.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tabled the bill and said the AAP government is bringing in a provision for automatic payment of compensation and undo the “formality” that the previous Congress government by passing the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act 2011.

“The existing law needs to be amended as the officer who is suspect of delaying a citizen’s work is responsible for initiating the process for paying compensation to the applicant for delay,” said Sisodia.

The House would discuss the amendment bill on Tuesday and vote on it before sending it to the Lieutenant Governor and President Pranab Mukherjee for approval. Sisodia also confirmed these steps on the future of the Bill.

Sisodia said the amendment in the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act 2011 is to ensure automatic calculation and payment of compensation to citizens in case of delay on the part of the officials to deliver a service like issuing certificates.

Sisiodia indicated that the government was considering raising the amount of compensation that a citizen is entitled to in case of delay in services.

A provision in the Act of 2011 on lax officials, who fail to deliver a service within the stipulated period mentioned in the Schedule, said that such officials shall be liable to pay cost at the rate of Rs 10 per day for the period of delay subject to maximum of Rs 200 per application, in aggregate, which shall be payable by him to the citizen as compensatory cost.

The AAP government now intends to change the above issues through these amendments. It will make the “citizen services” to the poorest of the poor as a matter of “Right” to get timely services.

Sisodia said the government wants to change the design of the system where a ‘competent officer’ will be designated in all government, local body and public authority offices. He will pay compensation to the citizen “automatically” for delayed services beyond the prescribed period.

Rewards would be given to staff who provides citizen services consistently on time, he said.

He also gave a detail of the work load of sub-divisional magistrates claiming on an average 75 certificates are issued daily by each of the SDMs so there should ideally be no delay.

After the proceedings, leaders of the Opposition BJP alleged that through the amendment bill the AAP government may try to tinker with the definition of Delhi government given in the existing Act of 2011.

“The drafts of the Bill that we have seen replace the existing definition that the government means Lieutenant Governor with one that claims that government means the Government National Capital Territory of Delhi,” said a BJP’s Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta.