Times of India: Ahmedabad: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
Five years after the Gujarat Right to Service (GRS) Act, 2014 came into force, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has re-issued a notification to all its departments to ensure provisions of the citizen’s law are enforced which includes putting up in public the list of 18 civic services and their delivery deadlines, the names and contacts of designated officers for each department, appointment of grievance redressal officers, first appeal authority and boards informing citizens of procedures for lodging a complaint or making applications. The notification had been re-issued on June 16. The status of implementation of the GRS Act has to be informed to the state urban development department within 15 days. A copy of the notification is with TOI.
The (GRS) Act, 2014, is a powerful law for citizens who encounter corruption, delayed services, or the lack of transparency while dealing with public servants. Under this law, each municipal department has to set deadlines for each service, and disciplinary action is mandated against errant officers who frequently breach these deadlines. A fine of Rs 10,000 can also be imposed for delays and a compulsory adverse remark can be recommended on the annual confidential report (ACR) of such officers. Only a handful of municipalities and municipal corporations and a few revenue offices across the state have implemented at least certain provisions of the GRS Act , such as information boards, copies of the Act and the lists of designated officers published on websites. Recently, Kalupur resident Pankaj Bhatt filed an RTI with the AMC to know the status of implementation of the act.
Not municipal corporations alone but every public authority had to designate a grievance redressal officers (GROs) across departments, districts, talukas, municipal corporations, municipalities, notified areas, and panchayats.
The GROs were supposed to receive complaints, inquire into them, and offer replies to complainants. The administrative reforms and training division (ARTD) of the general administration department (GAD) is the implementing agency of the law across the state. Till early 2021, Ahmedabad, Valsad, Panchmahal, Surat, Kutch, Rajkot, and Vadodara district administrations had uploaded the Act on their websites. However, only a handful of offices had mechanisms for citizens to file complaints.
Five years after the Gujarat Right to Service (GRS) Act, 2014 came into force, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has re-issued a notification to all its departments to ensure provisions of the citizen’s law are enforced which includes putting up in public the list of 18 civic services and their delivery deadlines, the names and contacts of designated officers for each department, appointment of grievance redressal officers, first appeal authority and boards informing citizens of procedures for lodging a complaint or making applications. The notification had been re-issued on June 16. The status of implementation of the GRS Act has to be informed to the state urban development department within 15 days. A copy of the notification is with TOI.
The (GRS) Act, 2014, is a powerful law for citizens who encounter corruption, delayed services, or the lack of transparency while dealing with public servants. Under this law, each municipal department has to set deadlines for each service, and disciplinary action is mandated against errant officers who frequently breach these deadlines. A fine of Rs 10,000 can also be imposed for delays and a compulsory adverse remark can be recommended on the annual confidential report (ACR) of such officers. Only a handful of municipalities and municipal corporations and a few revenue offices across the state have implemented at least certain provisions of the GRS Act , such as information boards, copies of the Act and the lists of designated officers published on websites. Recently, Kalupur resident Pankaj Bhatt filed an RTI with the AMC to know the status of implementation of the act.
Not municipal corporations alone but every public authority had to designate a grievance redressal officers (GROs) across departments, districts, talukas, municipal corporations, municipalities, notified areas, and panchayats.
The GROs were supposed to receive complaints, inquire into them, and offer replies to complainants. The administrative reforms and training division (ARTD) of the general administration department (GAD) is the implementing agency of the law across the state. Till early 2021, Ahmedabad, Valsad, Panchmahal, Surat, Kutch, Rajkot, and Vadodara district administrations had uploaded the Act on their websites. However, only a handful of offices had mechanisms for citizens to file complaints.
.JPG)
.JPG)
