Assam's very own Citizen's Charter

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UMANAND JAISWAL

On Anna path

Guwahati, Dec. 16: The Kamrup deputy commissioner's office is quietly putting together a New Year's gift for the ordinary citizen — transparent and timely issuance of crucial certificates and other such official documents and a redressal mechanism in case of loops in the services.

This is the Kamrup metro deputy commissioner's office's own version of the Citizen's Charter that will be implemented miles away from the brouhaha in Delhi, where the Anna Hazare team is pressuring the Centre to include the Citizens' Charter in the proposed Lok Pal Bill.

The idea is to save the citizen from having to grease sundry palms to get hold of a legitimate certificate.

The move comes before chief minister Tarun Gogoi brings a bill to that effect along with the service guarantee bill in the next budget session of the Assembly.

According to the government, a Citizens' Charter represents the commitment of an organisation towards standard, quality and timeframe of service delivery, a grievance redress mechanism, transparency and accountability.

Though the deputy commissioner of Kamrup (metro), Ashutosh Agnihotri, did not refer to the initiative as the Citizen's Charter, the contents suggested as much.

Sources said the low-key launch was deliberate to gauge the response and plug loopholes.

"It is a modest attempt to implement the chief minister's vision of providing a prompt, responsive, accountable and transparent administration, a step towards demystifying official procedures for the general public. We had planned to launch the move in October but had to defer it as we were not ready and then there was the demise of icons like Bhupen Hazarika and Mamoni Raisom Goswami," Agnihotri said.

As part of the move, there will be a display at the deputy commissioner's office listing the services provided at each branch, the legitimate charge of each service, the timeframe within which it will be delivered and the official who will shoulder the responsibility. There will also be a grievance redressal cell looked after by the SDO (sadar) to settle a complaint within seven days.

The services will include, among others, issuance of birth, death, permanent resident certificates, ration cards and papers related to land.

The going, however, may not be easy. Agnihotri was transferred during his earlier stint as a deputy commissioner before the Assembly elections under pressure from a section of staff and officials when he had acted against a employee who had sought money from a citizen to get his work done, a source said.

A similar project was attempted in 2001 across the state but it quickly faded, since there was no clear direction and back-up plan.

But this time, the district administration appears to have done its homework.

It has decided to bring out booklets in Assamese and English that will list the services on offer along with the charge, time, branches and officers dealing with it. These will also be posted on its official website.

This is also the first time that an SDO will be put in charge of the public grievance cell which will fix any complaint or delay within seven days.

The deputy commissioner himself will be inviting queries or complaints on his official and personal email IDs — kamrupmetro@nic.in and ashuagnihotri@gmail.com.

"I will be acknowledging it the same day and also fix it within seven days. We have also decided to add three more facilitation centres to cater exclusively to women, the elderly and the specially challenged from January 1," Agnihotri said.

Dhiren Baruah, the 84-year-old member of pressure group, Save Guwahati Build Guwahati, and former GMC member, welcomed the proposed move but said it was long overdue in an office where allegedly nothing moves without money changing hands.

"The intent to check corruption and improve services is there but what is needed is the will because a common man has to go through hell trying to get his things done in government offices. But there are still some officials who are honest and want to do something. We would like the administration to ensure that cooking gas is delivered within seven days of booking just like in Calcutta," Baruah said.