Lokpal And Lokayukta In India

Lokpal And Lokayukta In India

The goal of the government in a civil society particularly in democracy is the happiness and welfare of the people who formed it or over whom it governs. However, at cutting edge of administration, the common man is being harassed and deprived of the services to which he is entitled. The problem of the government is how to make the official at the lowest rung of the hierarchy, responsive, sympathetic sober and courteous in dealing with the citizens. The citizens generally feel agitated and want to ventilate their grievances against the officials and Government agencies. The redressal of grievances of citizens is not an easy task. The traditional apparatus for their removal is through the legislative, judicial or administrative authorities. But all these instruments of control have not proved effective. The legislative instrument is more suited for the consideration of matters of large public importance than for redressal of citizen’s grievances arising due to day to-day administration.

Justice through the judicial instrument is very expensive, dilatory and inconvenient, therefore, citizens in the majority do not approach courts for action, they find it cheaper and less humiliating to suffer wrongs than approaching the courts. Likewise, various administrative arrangements made in the departments of government have not satisfied the citizens. Governments all over the world have been experimenting with a variety of institutions to redress the citizen’s grievances. One such experiment was the creation of the institution of Ombudsman. – Ombudsman is a unique institution to protect the citizen against administrative injustice and prevent the abuse of power. Sweden was the first country to adopt this institution in 1809. Since then several countries in the world have adopted and adapted it according to their requirements :

The Ombudsman, broadly speaking supervises the administration and prevents maladministration, corruption, nepotism and other allied evils.

1. He has the power to investigate, criticize and publicize administrative actions.
2. He has also the right to inspect administrative agencies and to call for the files of the government for the purpose of his investigations.
3. He can satisfy himself whether lapses and abuses have crept in. Then, he reports back to the legislature.
4. The Ombudsman’s method of handling appeals against administrative decisions is very simple and informal.
5. He receives complaints directly from the aggrieved citizens either by mail or on the telephone, and sometimes in person from the complainants themselves.
6. Sometimes, the Ombudsman himself takes the initiative to inquire into any incorrect administrative action on the basis of reports in the newspapers.
7. He contacts the administrative agency concerned, gathers facts relating to the matter under investigation and examines them objectively.
8. Then he gives his report on the complaint. The Ombudsman system is inexpensive. The complainant is required to pay a very nominal fee for filing the complaint with the Ombudsman. The complainant also need not engage a lawyer to plead his case.

It is for the Ombudsman to investigate and find out whether the complaint is justified or not. The recommendations made by him are invariably accepted by the departments concerned and individual grievances are redressed By and large, the Ombudsman in various countries deals with the whole field of maladministration. They are concerned with the way in which administrative decisions are made and the injustices suffered by the common man as a result of such a suffered by the common man as a result of such decisions. They are not authorized to reverse administrative decisions and actions. They could not question the wisdom of administrative decisions.