The Hindu : Kerala News : Despite deadline, local bodies going slow on charter

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Despite deadline, local bodies going slow on charter

By N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 2. LO cal self-government institutions in the State are going slow in preparing and publishing the citizens charter, though the Government has set November 15 as the deadline.

Following decentralisation, the lion's share of the Plan funds and extensive powers were given to these institutions. But the public are still unaware of the services they should be getting from these institutions. The Government has directed the local bodies to publish the citizens charter to streamline their functioning and make them more transparent and people-friendly.

The charter is a statement approved and published by a panchayat, municipality or a Corporation detailing the free and paid services offered by it in a time-bound manner. The conditions and the time limit for providing the services should also be mentioned in the charter. It should have the details of the permits, licences and certificates issued for various purposes.

EC's warning

According to the rules, within six months after the election, the committee that assumes office should discuss and decide the services that the local body as well as the institutions that come under it would provide to the public. The time-limit for providing the services and the conditions to be fulfilled by the public for availing themselves of the services should also be specified. The charter should be read out at the grama sabha meeting. But the grama sabhas are not held regularly and the State Election Commission had warned the erring local bodies.

The existing committees are also bound to prepare the charter within six months on getting the Government directive. While drawing up the charter, the committee should elicit the views of the secretary and also consider the availability of officers and funds at its disposal. The committee reserves the right to evolve the procedure and also fix the fee that can be levied for each service.

System to end delay

The Government has directed the local bodies to introduce a system to end the inordinate delay in processing the applications submitted by the public. A serial number should be assigned to every application and the details of the application should be recorded in a register. An acknowledgement receipt should be issued immediately with the probable date on which the service can be rendered, the name of the officer the applicant may approach, and other details too. The panchayat committee, secretary and officers are obliged to render a service referred to in the charter to an eligible applicant within the set timeframe and the failure in this score will be treated as a criminal behaviour.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala