Right to Services Act silent on punishments, non-delivery

While the BJP-Shiv Sena led government has been able to provide 369 services online through the Right to Services (RTS) Act, the punitive provision for not providing services in the stipulated time and fixing responsibility are yet to be worked out.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday launched 163 more services online under RTS in Mumbai. He announced that Nagpur has become the first digital district in the state with all gram panchayats going digital. With 163 more services online, Fadnavis said that his government has provided all 369 services of 24 departments online through the Aaple Sarkar portal.

Fadnavis said that, henceforth, no citizen would be required to physically travel to mantralaya or any government office for these services. He said people can also apply for grievance redressal through the Aaple Sarkar portal. All villages in the state would be connected digitally by December 2018 and the government would be starting the Aaple Sarkar service centre in every village.

However, the provision for punishment for non-delivery of service still eludes the state. It was the BJP's election manifesto for the 2014 assembly elections that had envisaged RTS as one of the important promises. The manifesto committee had borrowed the concept from the Madhya Pradesh RTS Act, which has won accolades at the international level. That Act has a provision for financial punishment for bureaucrats who fail to provide services within the stipulated time-frame.

BJP state unit spokesperson and member of the manifesto committee, Madhav Bhandari, says he would insist on fixing responsibilities and punishment for not providing services on time.

What are the services

Birth and death certificates, marriage registration certificate, land records and related registration, deemed conveyance certificate, driving licence application, renewal of licence, Shop Act-related licences, solvency certificate, senior citizen certificate, caste certificate, registration of partnership firms, registration of trust unde Bombay Public Trust Act, NoCs for petrol pumps, hotels etc, licence for amplified sound system use, character certificate, registration of vehicles, transfer of tenement and all other important certificates or permissions or licences can be availed through online applications by using Aaple Sarkar portal.