Govt gives more teeth for the grievances Bill

The government on Friday tweaked the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, introduced just four days ago in Lok Sabha, by promising an independent authority at district and block levels instead of a government mechanism. Activists had protested the anomaly, saying the citizen may not get justice from a government officer and it would be difficult for him to approach independent central and state grievance redressal commissions.

Minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy said an independent grassroots authority to redress bulk of the public grievances will be “incorporated” in Bill introduced by him only four days ago.

The Bill actually proposes to create same kind of system as provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, starting with the grievance redress officers to be designated within six months in all municipalities, panchayats and administrative units of the government handling supply of goods and services and mandated to remedy complaints within 30 days or face penalty and disciplinary action.

The redressal commissions will entertain complaints against these officers while the final authority of appeal under the Bill are the proposed Lokpal and the Lok Ayuktas.

Narayanasamy, however, accused the activists deliberately creating confusion. “We have also received representations from a wide spectrum of stakeholders with recommendations and suggestions for amendments. All of these will be considered, but we would like to clarify it has always been our intention that the independent designated authority will be established at the district level,” he said.