Moneylife: Pune: Friday, April
15, 2016.
Disappointed
by the inaction and apathy of government agencies? Shailesh Gandhi, the former
central information commissioner, says the Act 21 of 2006 shows us a way out.
Please join us in getting the government to act on it
That our
government does not function for the benefit of the people always is a common
refrain; it is a topic of discussion at every dinner table. But now citizens
have a means. According to Shailesh Gandhi, a former central information
commissioner, citizens have a great tool in hand, known as the Act 21 of 2006
to compel the unresponsive government to act. Its power is much more than that
of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Mr Gandhi says, “India belongs to each
individual citizen. Thus, we ourselves are responsible to make our government
work for us.” To do this, he speaks about an important tool designed for the
common man, namely, The Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers
and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, or the Act 21 of
2006. This tongue twister of a statute is commonly known as the ‘Transfers and
Delays Act of 2006’.
"Act 21
of 2006 has even more potential than RTI for getting better services,
governance and accountability for citizens. Though an enforceable law, it has
not served its purpose because of ignorance of the law and apathy by citizens
and government servants," he says.
If you find
ourselves stymied not only by inaction but also the apathy of government
agencies when our complaints fall on deaf ears, this Act shows us a way. It
mandates that no action can be kept pending for more than three months, and if
left unattended beyond that, a simple application with the complaint can be
sent to the secretary of the concerned department; or when the relevant authority
is a municipality, the municipal commissioner. Citizens don’t know this and
neither do government officials. Those who have tried have been disappointed.
Moneylife
Foundation has now decided to record the outcome of the trying to get better
services under this Act. If citizens face non-compliance by government
officials, we would like to record it in a systematic way. With a methodically
documented data, we would then persuade the government to begin implementing
the Act 21 of 2006. Here are the steps you need to follow to make your voice
heard
1.
Read attached 'Note on Act 21 of 2006'.
2.
Also read attached ‘Rules of Act 21 of 2006’
3. There are two stages of this process, first you filing an
application, representation or complaint about your issue. After waiting for 90
days, you need to go to the second stage. In the first stage, you need to
provide, date of filing, department and whether you have received any response.
If and record on the website when you send one of the letters in the note.
Mention the department and upload the actual word file. You will get a number.
If you get a response within 60 days, please upload it. If you do not get any
response, please report it against your number.
4. In the second stage you need to file a complaint using
Act 21 of 2006 to the Secretary of the Department, where you have first filed
your application. We have provided the format in which you can file the
complaint on the response link below. In this stage, after waiting for 60 days,
you need to come back and register your comment whether you received any
response or not.
This is
simple and you can the improvement in government accountability, which you
desire.
The Act
governs the transfers of government officials in Maharashtra. The Act specifies
that the tenure of government servants will be three years and transfers will
normally be made only in April and May of each year. It provides for reasons to
be recorded if transfers happen otherwise. Mr Gandhi pointed out that under the
Act, in case of any discrepancy, anyone can file an application against the
action with the information commission.
Mr Gandhi
also explained how the government’s resources are insufficient to govern a
gigantic country like India. He emphasised that simple tools like the ‘Transfer
and Delays Act’, if utilised, have a potential to change the system. An
important first step is to exert pressure. He concluded by saying, “You can
make this Act work. If you want your government to work, you will have to act.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
