Observations On Citizens’ Charter Schemes In India
There is no doubt that the Citizen’s Charter strategy, if formulated and implemented in an objective, conscious, and committed manner to give the citizens their due can lead us towards good governance. The most positive aspects of this programme relate to its emphasis on disseminating information to the general public and laying down some of the basic principles which should be the concern of any organisation involved in the delivery of public services. But there are a number of pitfalls and problems that need to be overcome, especially in the Indian context, if the strategy has to make any substantial impact on realisation and pinpointing accountability. Some of the areas that need to be addressed are:
Need for Greater Coordination and Consistency:
One of the primary requirements for success of such a scheme is the need for a greater degree of coordination and consistency in terms of formulation of the Charter. Grievances procedures and monitoring need to be developed with consistency in their underlying principles, along with the necessary investment of time and resources. Charters should be based on people rather than given to them. There is a need to evaluate the services based on the experience of users, rather than the process of how and what is provided. The Charters should aim at maximum possible satisfaction of people’s needs in the shortest possible time and without any inconvenience. These should be built around multiple needs of users rather than being drawn from what the disparate service organisations presently offer. The assessment of user’s needs and expectations is an essential condition, if the people’s evaluation of the movement and public services are to be saved from meeting failure.
Implementing Standards:
Also, it must be noted that it is somewhat easier to set standards, but difficult to implement. In the Indian context, availability of adequate manpower and national resources available to keep up these standards, particularly in the context of essential services to be provided at the local, rural and urban settings is a necessary condition for success of the scheme. there is need to lay down clear procedures, in the most simple terms interspersed with graphic illustration, and in the language(s) which the people at local level could easily comprehend (even using local dialects if necessary ). It is often observed that charter standards in many organisations may exist, but are seldom propagated to reach the users of the services. Most of them remain quite ignorant about the existence of such Charters. Dissemination of necessary information and adequate publicity through press, and other instruments of mass media, and prominent display at the reception lobbies of the agency concerned will go a long way in making the citizens aware of their rights to avail of particular services.
Efficiency of Grievances Redressal Machinery:
Similarly, one of the most important conditions of the success of the Charter scheme is to strengthen the efficiency of its grievance procedure machinery. It has been observed that in many cases the Charters do not prescribe such procedures, or even the names, addresses or telephone numbers, of the officials to be contacted in case of any citizen not receiving his/her due or being harassed in order to fleece him by some unscrupulous elements in the bureaucracy. Often it has been noted that even where telephone numbers and addresses for such officials do exist, they are seldom available in their seats, or the telephone keeps on giving the busy tone’ or there is no response. In the Indian administrative culture, there is no place for a courtesy of “call back’, if a particular officials is busy in a meeting or is ‘out’ on inspection or tour. The harassed citizen has got to try again and again until he gets frustrated and gives up in disgust. Besides adequate provision for due compensation and apologies for any loss or hurt suffered by the citizens if standards are not being maintained, the charter agencies must demonstrate a sincere commitment to the convenience of the citizens and respect for their time and efforts. This calls for a drastic change in the attitude of the bureaucracy and work culture in the organisation. Apart from the fact that the members of the agency need to be conscientious and sensitive to the public needs and their inconveniences in coming to the office again and again. The existing common bureaucratic behaviour of “come again”, or “come tomorrow, the “person is not on the seat” or the file is not available, or raising of one objection or the other at each visit of the user to the office of the concerned officer will not help in the success of the charter scheme, howsoever meticulously it may be formulated and established. There is further need for systematic coordination and team work at various levels of the agency involved in the delivery of services. The citizen is not interested in one sections reply that its work is over and the file is with another section for further action. He/she is interested in getting the work accomplished. Coordination of various steps or activities involved in the provision of a service is one of the most difficult and complex problems which needs to be tackled through establishment of an effective monitoring mechanism and assigned responsibility on me concerned official to see that the work is accomplished.
Protecting it from Political and Bureaucracy’s Influence:
Another important aspect of the success of the charter scheme is to keep the whole system of public services away from political or bureaucratic influences. In fact, one of the specific conditions of the success of the charter scheme is that such charters must be implemented in a natural and fair manner to all irrespective of their status, political potion or economic background. There is no place for politicisation of the Charter scheme in case it is to be made an effective instrument of accountability and good governance. A system of regular monitoring by independent consumer protection groups or an independent on-political board with representatives drawn from various consumer forums is a must for shielding the Charter scheme becoming a victim in the hands of political or administrative influence peddlers.
Offering Incentives to Personnel and Institutions:
Finally, the Charter scheme’s success is predicated on the incentives available to the officials and institutions to perform as a team with the maximum efficiency of their competence’, and with the sole objective of achieving ‘performance at the lowest cost. It is well-known that in Indian administrative milieu, good work is not rewarded’ and ‘bad work is not punished’. The ‘reward’ and punishment’ principle is simply out of existence from the dictionary of the Indian administrative jargons. Apart from recognising the agencies’ performance with introduction of a sort of “Charter Mark Scheme and recognition and honouring of individuals, for their excellence and meritorious performance, introduction of group incentive schemes, and monitoring incentives for meeting the targets and excellent performance will go a long way towards achievement of the goals inherent in the Citizen’s Charter Strategy. Otherwise the dangers are that it may nearly turnout to be a massive and expensive cosmetic exercise in public relations without achieving the primary goal of citizen satisfaction- one of the essential conditions and a step “towards good governance”.