New Delhi
Lok sabha MP from Arunachal, Ninong Ering filed a Bill titled “Right To Public Service Bill” in the parliament. On the bill, he has said, “The basic essence of having a representative form of democracy in a nation is to entitle the citizens with basic services by the state, Therefore, it becomes the primary duty of the government to deliver services to the public. Failing to deliver public services to the citizens within the specified time limit, the government would have to pay compensation to the public”.
Most of the corruption takes place in government offices in the delivery of public services. Due to non-accountability to deliver public services in time, common people have to bribe the government officials. This bill could be a milestone to prevent day to day corruption.
In the present Budget Session of the Parliament, he also asked a question from the minister of IT and communications, Ravi Shankar Prasad on Breach of Aadhar data and asked a subsequent supplementary question that why the government is failing to deliver Aadhar Cards to people in Arunachal Pradesh, as often AADHAR cards are found dumped outside the Post Offices in Arunachal. Consequently, people of Arunachal are barred from availing government services and facilities.
Through his official Press Release, MP Ering has informed that in response, Ravi Shankar Prasad couldn’t reply and state the reason behind the failure of the Ministry to deliver the
AADHAR cards and gave a very abrupt, meaningless and vague statement. The Right to Public Service Bill would hold the government accountable and compel to deliver public services in due time. The Right To Public Service (RTPS) confers right on every individual citizen to time-bound delivery of services and redressal of grievances.
The RTPS legislations are meant to reduce corruption among the government officials and to increase transparency and public accountability, asserted Ering. The states in India have acted as pioneers in this regard. The right to public service legislation has been introduced in various states following the legislation of the Madhya Pradesh government in 2010.
By now, more than twenty states have introduced such acts, he claimed. These acts have fetched fruitful results in the states. This enables the citizens to access government services and enables the government to provide the required services seamlessly. It has been observed that the RTPS acts have helped the states in tackling corruption, inefficiency and lack of transparency in the conduct of government affairs. The RTPS strengthens the citizens of India and their belief in government institutions. Therefore, it is the time when the act should be introduced at the central level, added the MP.