Karnataka to compensate citizens who face delay in receiving services

Citizens who face delays in receiving services under Karnataka's Sakala scheme can now get compensation from the government at the click of a button.

Ten years after the Sakala scheme was introduced, the government has now put in place a system where citizens can demand compensation as envisioned in the law.

Sakala, or the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, promises delivery of services within a stipulated period of time.

Under the Act, every designated officer who fails to deliver services within the stipulated time is liable to pay a compensatory cost of Rs 20 per day up to a maximum of Rs 500.

“We will now push out SMS alerts to citizens saying their service is delayed and they can claim compensation. If they click on the link and enter their Aadhaar details, the compensation will be credited into their Aadhaar-seeded bank account. Our system will calculate the cost depending on the number of days that the service is delayed,” B R Mamatha, Additional Mission Director-1, Sakala, said.

In 10 years, Rs 3.39 lakh has been paid as compensation to citizens. “That’s just Rs 33,900 a year. Most citizens lack awareness that they can get this compensation. Enforcement also was lax as the officer concerned had to pay through a draft, and made citizens run around for this,” Additional Chief Secretary (e-Governance) Rajeev Chawla said.

There were 2,564 competent officers who had to pay citizens for the delay. “This has been brought down to just 99 nodal officers who will authorise payments. And, if these nodal officers delay payment for more than seven days, action will be taken,” said Chawla, who superannuated on Monday.

The nodal officer will pay the citizen from the government’s coffers. “The money will be cut from the salary of the officer concerned,” Mamatha said. “Our idea isn’t to say that citizens should get money. We want the officer to feel the pinch and be accountable,” she said.

Based on a direction from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who heads e-Governance, officials will check 10% of all Sakala applications that get rejected. “Cases that were wrongly rejected will be reopened,” Mamatha said.

At present, 1,115 services are available under Sakala. “It is very important for citizens to make sure they apply under Sakala for guaranteed service delivery within the stipulated time. They can call our helpline 080-44554455 for guidance,” Mamatha said.

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