There was a time when in the Governement setup, the common man was deprived of information in name of secrecy.
- Chandigarh, July 14 – There was a time when in the Governement setup, the common man was deprived of information in name of secrecy. But after the implementation of ‘RTI’ i.e. Right to Information Act, a revolutionary change was seen in the working style of Government Departments. It is due to magical charisma of RTI act that the common has been empowered with right to information. Now after the public has access to information, it is high time to strictly implement ‘RTS’ i.e. Right to Service and generate awareness regarding it.
- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal has always emphasized on Good Governance from the very beginning. His vision of Good Governance is when all the Government and public dealing work should be executed on time which will directly ease the life of a common man. When people don’t have to depend on the Government officials or visit Government offices, this is good governance in its right sense.
- In this episode, the Right to Service Act has been implemented by the State Government to ensure timely delivery of various services provided by government departments to the general public. Haryana Right to Service Commission has been constituted for proper implementation of the Act. Due to the efforts of the Chief Commissioner of the Commission, today 551 services and schemes of various departments of the State Government are under the purview of this law.
- Secretary of the Commission, Smt. Meenaxee Raj, said that the duty of the Commission is to ensure that this Act is implemented properly by the Government Departments. For this purpose, the Commission may take suo motu cognizance of failure to deliver service in accordance with the Act and refer such cases to the First Grievance Redressal Authority or the Second Grievance Redressal Authority for adjudication. The commission can inspect the offices related to service delivery and the offices of the First Grievance Redressal Authority or the Second Grievance Redressal Authority may recommend departmental action against any officer or employee of the State Government for failure to discharge their functions under this Act.
- He said that in order to make the service delivery process more transparent, the Commission can recommend changes in their procedure. It can also recommend to notify additional services under Section-3 of the Act and to amend the already issued notifications. Right to Service Commission also has the power to impose a fine of up to Rs 20,000 on the designated officer or any other employee involved in the process of providing such service and to provide compensation up to Rs 5,000 from the deficient officer or employee to the eligible person.
- The Secretary of the Right to Service Commission, Smt. Meenaxee Raj said that if the Commission is satisfied that there is a reasonable basis for investigation in any matter arising out of the provisions of this Act, it can take Suo Motu cognizance and initiate investigation in the matter. Under this section, the Commission shall have the same powers during the course of an inquiry into a case as a civil court has during the trial of a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
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