SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday introduced the Meghalaya Right to Public Services Bill, 2020, a law to facilitate delivery of notified public services to the citizens within the stipulated time limit.
The Bill underlines the citizen’s right to time-bound delivery of services and a procedure determining the fixing of liability in cases of default.
Simply put, the designate officer in any government department will be held liable for not providing a particular service to the public.
According to Chapter II Section 3(2) of the Bill, the state government may, from time to time, notify the services and the time period within which the services are to be provided. The government will also notify the designated officer, who will provide the service, as well as the appellate authority.
On receiving an application for service by a citizen, the designated officer has to provide the service or reject the application within a stipulated time. In case of rejection of an application for service, the officer has to intimate the reasons to the applicant, the Bill says.
The applicant can approach the appellate authority in cases of such rejection, and the officer will have to inform the applicant about the (Contd on P-10)
Assembly nod to…
(Contd from P-3)period within which an appeal may be preferred.
The appeal may be filed within 30 days from the date of rejection of the application or on the expiry of the stipulated time limit.
If the decision of the appellate authority is found unsatisfactory, the aggrieved citizen can appeal to the State Public Service Delivery Commission within 30 days from the date of decision.
The Commission, according to Section 8 (1) of the Bill, may impose a lump sum penalty against the designated officer for failure to deliver or render services to which the applicant is entitled, which may extend up to Rs 5,000 in the first instance and up to Rs 20,000 for repeated instances.