4 January 2025 : Daily Answer Writing
Q1) While the citizens charter has long been touted as a game changer when it comes to efficient people-centric public service delivery, it has merely become a toothless tool plagued with ineffective implementation. Elaborate.
Answer:
Citizen’s Charter is a voluntary and written document of commitments made by a government organization to the citizens in respect of the services/schemes being provided to them.
First implemented by John Mayor’s government in UK in 1991. In India, the idea first surfaced in conference of CMs in 1997.
Citizens Charter as a potential game changer in public service delivery:
1. Improve service delivery: (a) establishing benchmarks and quality as per best practices; (b) reducing the element of bureaucratic discretion and arbitrariness; (c) reduced scope of corruption; (d) reducing/checking bureaucratic apathy and lethargy.
2. Citizen-centric governance process: (a) increasing public awareness about expected quality and timeline of service; (b) public can hold the organization accountable with suitable grievance redressals; (c) making provisions for feedback from citizens.
However, Citizen’s charter has merely become a toothless tool because:
1. Poor drafting and design flaws: (a) absence of critical information; (b) measurable standards of delivery are not defined; (c) setting unrealistic expectations; (d) often not available in local/regional languages; (f) often copied from other departments.
2. Absence of accountability mechanisms: (a) no clear consequences for failing to meet the standards outlined in the charter; (b) not supported by any law and are thus non-justiciable; (c) grievance redressal mechanisms are missing or poorly managed.
3. Lack of acceptability/adoption: (a) stakeholders [end-users/civil society organizations etc.] not consulted when charters are drafted; (b) lower bureaucracy treats it as a formality enforced from the top; (c) lack of awareness among the public and inadequate publicity.
4. Other issues: (a) one size fits all approach makes it non inclusive for socially marginalized sections; (b) absence of feedback mechanisms for improvements; (c) charters are not regularly updated (frozen in time);
Corrective measures needed:
1. Introduce the Seven Steps Model to Citizen’s Charter [Sevottam] – (a) defining all services provided by a department + establish target client; (b) set standards/norms; (c) develop capability to meet standards; (d) perform to achieve the standards; (e) monitor performance against set standards; (f) evaluate the impact through independent mechanisms; (g) continuous improvement results.
2. Other measures like: (a) deliberation on making Citizens charter legally enforceable; (b) set accountability parameters for officers in-charge; (c) Wide consultation including civil society, NGOs etc.
For more such UPSC related Mains Answer Writing, Check Out 3 Januray 2025 : Daily Answer Writing
