Close on the heels of Mr Anna Hazare's threat to go on fast again for a strong anti-graft law, the Government on Wednesday unveiled a draft Bill to set up a grievance redressal mechanism.
The objective of the Citizen's Right to Grievance Redress Bill, 2011 is to tackle corruption in the lower ranks of administration and ensure delivery of public services in a time-bound manner.
The Bill makes it compulsory for every Ministry and Department to act within 15 days on public complaints, failing which an appeal could be filed with a higher authority. This authority will have to dispose of the appeal within 30 days.
It also seeks to impose a penalty on the grievance redressal officer if a complaint is not addressed in the stipulated time frame.
The Bill also provides a platform to State Governments to implement a similar mechanism for their schemes, he said.
“The Bill will be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament,” the Minister of State for Personnel, Mr V. Narayanasamy, told reporters.
The draft, which seeks to cover all Central schemes and departments, has been put up in the public domain for suggestions and inputs from the stakeholders, he added.
The law will set up a mechanism similar to the Right to Information Act and seek to have a “Citizens' Charter” to deal with public grievances, the Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said.
The Bill will also incorporate the institution of Information and Facilitation Centre in all public authorities to ensure that citizens can be facilitated and grievances are systematically recorded and tracked using telephone, SMS, Web etc.