Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Two days after the Cabinet cleared the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill,2011,activists Saturday said exact provisions of the Bill were still unclear and have demanded an accessible and decentralised legislation.
National Campaign for Peoples Right to Informations Aruna Roy,who is a member of National Advisory Council,and Nikhil Dey demanded that Parliament urgently enact a legislation for grievance redressal for both central and state governments.
Many grievances which affect the common person,especially poor and the marginalised,are in state agencies and departments. It would be meaningless to create a grievance redress mechanism at the Centre which would leave out the majority of Indians,especially those who are most in need of its intervention, they said and stressed the need to ensure the same law provides for central and state commissions for grievance redressal with similar powers,structures and function.
NCPRI also sought a decentralised mechanism of a Grievance Redress Officer for every public authority at Panchayat or municipal level to address complaints within a specific time. They also urged the Centre to bring a Bill to set up an independent authority at district level with powers to penalise erring officials.
The draft cleared Thursday is part of proposed measures to check corruption and ensure delivery of services passports,birth and death certificates and pension in a time-bound manner. In case of delay,officials responsible can be fined Rs 250 a day up to a maximum of Rs 50,000.
