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    Citizen Charter

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    mohinder0591

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Citizen Charter

    Uploaded by

    mohinder0591
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    Original Title

    Citizen Charter (1)

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    17 views3 pages

    Citizen Charter

    Uploaded by

    mohinder0591

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    Governance Handout by Mr.

    Satveer Singh
    Note: Handout need to be supplemented with the class for better understanding.
    Everything Taught in class is not covered in Handout.

    Topic: - Citizen Charter


    Citizen’s Charter is a document of commitments made by a government
    organization to the citizens/client groups in respect of the services/schemes being
    provided to them or to be provided to them.
    The objective of Charter exercise is to build bridges between citizens and
    administration and to streamline administration in tune with the needs of citizens.
    This exercise, if appropriately conceived and carried out, can enthuse and enable
    organizations to tune their planning, policy and performance to the needs and
    concerns of citizens/ stakeholders/ users/ clients.

    The basic objective of the Citizens Charter is to empower the citizen in


    relation to public service delivery. Six principles of the Citizens Charter
    movement as originally framed, were:
    (i) Quality: Improving the quality of services
    (ii) Choice: Wherever possible
    (iii) Standards: Specify what to expect and how to act if standards are not met
    (iv) Value: For the taxpayer’s money
    (v) Accountability: Individuals and Organisations
    (vi) Transparency: Rules/ Procedures/ Schemes/Grievances

    Over the years, in India, significant progress has been made in the field of economic
    development. This, along with a substantial increase in the literacy rate, (from
    51.63% to 65.38% in the last decade) has made Indian citizens increasingly
    aware of their rights. Citizens have become more articulate and expect the
    administration not merely to respond to their demands but also to anticipate them.
    Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in Government of
    India (DARPG) initiated the task of coordinating, formulating and operationalising
    Citizens' Charters. Guidelines for formulating the Charters as well as a list of do's
    and don'ts were communicated to various government
    departments/organisations to enable them to bring out focused and effective
    charters.

    VAJIRAM & RAVI 1


    The Charters are expected to incorporate the following elements:
    (i) Vision and Mission Statement
    (ii) Details of business transacted by the organisation
    (iii) Details of clients
    (iv) Details of services provided to each client group
    (v) Details of grievance redress mechanism and how to access it
    (vi) Expectations from the clients
    Evaluation of Citizen Charter:
    DARPG engaged a professional agency to develop a standardised model for
    internal and external evaluation of Citizens' Charters in a more effective,
    quantifiable and objective manner. This agency also carried out evaluation of
    implementation of Charters in 5 Central Government Organisations and 15
    Departments/ Organisations of States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar
    Pradesh. This Agency was also required to suggest methods for increasing
    awareness, both within the organisation and among the users, and to suggest
    possible methods for orientation of management and the staff in the task of
    formulating and deploying Charters.
    As per the report of evaluation carried out by the Agency, major findings
    were:
    (i) In majority of cases Charters were not formulated through a consultative
    process
    (ii) By and large service providers are not familiar with the philosophy, goals and
    main features of the Charter
    (iii) Adequate publicity to the Charters had not been given in any of the
    Departments evaluated. In most Departments, the Charters are only in the initial
    or middle stage of implementation
    (iv) No funds have been specifically earmarked for awareness generation of
    Citizens' Charter or for orientation of staff on various components of the Charter

    Challenges associated
     Some departments have drafted unrealistic charters. This can lead to
    expectations not being met.
     The citizen’s charter is not legally enforceable. This has made them
    ineffective in a real sense.
     The charters are drafted unilaterally by the service provider without taking
    into consideration the opinions and feedback of the customers. NGOs are
    also not consulted.

    VAJIRAM & RAVI 2


     There is also a lack of infrastructure in the country to go side-by-side with
    this initiative.
     There is a need for a team effort to implement the charter in its true spirit.
    There is a hierarchy gap between officers and field staff, which leads to a
    lack of coordination and motivation.
     The charters are not periodically revised.
     It is also seen that the needs of the disabled and senior citizens are not taken
    into account while framing.
     The rules and procedures are found to be excessively complicated.
     There is a lack of awareness among the public about citizen’s charters.
     Standards defined are generally not measurable making the whole exercise
    ineffective.
     It is seen that organizations themselves are not keen to implement and
    adhere to their charters.
     There is a tendency to have a uniform citizen’s charter for all agencies,
    departments, etc. under the same parent organization. The charter should
    be customized as per the needs and functioning of the particular
    office/agency.
     There are only a few more than 700 charters adopted in the country. It is
    still a long way to go in terms of universal charter adoption.

    2nd ARC recommendations:


    (i) Need for citizens and staff to be consulted at every stage of formulation of the
    Charter
    (ii) Orientation of staff about the salient features and goals/ objectives of the
    Charter; vision and mission statement of the department; and skills such as team
    building, problem solving, handling of grievances and communication skills
    (iii) Need for creation of database on consumer grievances and redress
    (iv) Need for wider publicity of the Charter through print media, posters, banners,
    leaflets, handbills, brochures, local newspapers etc. and also through electronic
    media
    (v) Earmarking of specific budgets for awareness generation and orientation of
    staff
    (vi) Replication of best practices in this field

    VAJIRAM & RAVI 3

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