Transcript Citizens’ Charter

Citizens’ Charter
A Presentation
by
S.Krishnan, Director,
Consumer Coordination Council
th
20
August 2004
In 1947
we became Independent
In 1952
We Declared Ourselves to be a
Sovereign Secular Socialistic
Democratic Republic
In1997
We Celebrated the Golden Jubilee
of Our
Independence
****************************
In 2002
We Celebrated the
Golden Jubilee of
Our Republic
BUT WHAT HAVE WE
AS CITIZENS GOT IN
THESE
50 TO 57 YEARS?
Let us first ask
What is Democracy?
It is defined as Government
•“OF” the people
•“BY” the people &
•“FOR” the people
Let us answer some further
Questions.
Is our Democracy “Of” the people?
Answer can be “Yes” because our
election system is fairly good.
Is it “By” the people?
For the same reason the answer can
be again “Yes”.
Is our Democracy”For” the people?
Looking at the state of our Public
Utilities & Govt. managed Services
across the country an honest
answer to this question cannot be
an unqualified and categorical
“Yes”
This is NOT because
Government is inherently
apathetic or lacks concern for the
people.
On the other hand it has
innumerable programmes for the
benefit of the people
It is because
Little effort has been made either
by Government or by organised
groups of Citizens to make the
Governmental Machinery
More Citizen Friendly
Or perhaps it is because
The Citizens have not been able to
overcome their inherited Colonial
passivity, fear & cynicism.
MORE IMPORTANTLY
They think they do not have the
power, knowledge and initiative to
demand better service and public
accountability.
In the meanwhile
The Governmental Machinery
has become so impersonal, in
its approach,as to appear
unresponsive to the
needs of the people
. There is no Accountability
or Transparency
. There has also been little or
no Public participation in the
Formulation of Policies by
Government
What the Citizens need therefore is
An organised attempt to:
• Build public opinion
• Bring the Citizens together on
these issues &
• Make those in authority
appreciate the needs of the
Citizens
So, what should be done to make the
Government really ‘FOR” the
people?
The Answer lies
In
CITIZENS’ CHARTER
What is Citizens’ Charter?
• It is about giving more power to
the Citizens
• It is not a Recipe for more State
action
• It is a testament to the belief in the
People’s right to be informed and
choose for themselves
Citizens’ Charter emphasises that
“Far too long, the Provider
has dominated
Now it is the turn of the User”
and that
Institutional level systemic changes
are required
-Not Ministerial announcements.
It is seldom realised that
Government too has customers:
• Who pay for all Public Services
through taxes
• They have therefore every right to
expect quality service-responsive to
their needs-which are provided
efficiently at a reasonable cost
It is therefore time to change,
It is also time to shift from top
down bureaucracy,
To an entrepreneurial Government:
That empowers citizens &
communities and encourages them,
To participate in the decision
making process.
There should be a
Comprehensive Performance
Analysis
Through a participative programme
between
Public Utilities, Governmental
Agencies themselves and
The Citizens who use them
• Performance should be judged
against well laid down and well
publicised basic minimum
standards involving various
categories of users
• Citizens’ Charter therefore sees
Public Utilities & Services
through the eyes of those who
use them
• Citizens’ Charter is meant to be a
tool kit of initiatives and ideas to
raise standards,in the way most
appropriate to each service.
• It believes that, there is a wellspring of talent,energy,care and
commitment in our Public
Services & Utilities
Citizens’ Charter aims to release
these excellent qualities to
ensure services in which the
citizens can have confidence and
the Public servants &Managers
can have pride
Citizens’ Charter Demands
I. Accountability:
1. It is the answerability of the
“man behind the counter”
2. He should not be anonymous.
Every employee whose duties
involve public contact must
wear a name badge
3.It holds both individuals and
organisations responsible for
performance, measured objectively
4.It applies equally to all levels of
Govt.-viz.the Centre, State, District,
Local Bodies and Panchayats, as
also other agencies delivering
Public Services to Citizens
Citizens’ Charter Demands
II.Measurement of Performance:
1.By setting Standards-Citizens must
know what service standards are &
be able to act if service is deficient
or unacceptable
2.By ensuring Quality- And a
commitment for improving Quality
of Public Utilities &Services
3.By providing Choice- Choice
wherever possible between
competing providers, is the best spur
to Quality improvement.
4.By providing Value-Citizens have
a right to expect that Public Services
& Utilities give Value for Money,
within a tax bill, the Nation can
afford
Citizens’ Charter Demands
III. Transparency:
1. Through availability of relevant
information in understandable
and simple language
2. Providing easy access to such
information
3. Simple rules and procedures
4.Efficient and well publicised
Grievance redressal system
5.Names addresses with telephone
numbers. who can be approached
if things go wrong
6.Streamlined Complaint handling
system with provision of immediate
acknowledgement and time bound
reply
To Sum Up
The Basic Principles
of
Citizens’ Charter
can be identified as indicated
in the subsequent
slides
1.Set Standards of Service:
Set clear standards of Service
that users can expect;monitor
and review performance;and
publish the results, following
independent validation where
possible to instill confidence in
the users.
2 Be open and provide full
information:
Be open and communicate clearly
and effectively in plain language
and provide full information about
services, their cost and how well
they perform.
Respect Right to Information and be
ready to respond positively
3.Consult and Involve:
Consult and involve present and
potential users of Public Services as
well as those who work in them;and
use their views to improve the
Service provided.
4.Encourage access and the
promotion of choice:
*Make Services easily available to
every one who needs them,
including using technology to the
full, and offering choice wherever
possible
continued-----------
Continued from previous slide
*Promote easy physical access to
physically handicapped
*Provide signage and directions
that can be easily understood
*Have flexible hours to suit users
*Make more use of telephone to
answer queries and deliver services
*Make full use of modern Internet
facilities
5.Treat all fairly:
Treat all people fairly regardless of
race,religion,sex,age or ability;
respect their privacy and dignity;be
helpful and courteous; pay
attention to those with special
needs
6.Put things right when they go
wrong:
*Put things right quickly and
effectively;learn from complaints;
have a clear,well publicised easy to
use complaints procedure with
independent review
*Complaints must be encouraged
and not feared
continued--------------
Continued from previous slide
*Complaints provide valuable
information regarding
performance and in identifying
potential weaknesses and problems
*All complaints should be dealt
with promptly and redressal
monitored
*Complainants must be informed
on action taken
7.Use resources effectively:
*To provide value for money for
tax payers and users
*Balance between efficiency and
effectiveness-Quality must not be
sacrificed for savings
*Share information with users in
case of constraints
8.Innovate and Improve.
*Continuously look for ways to
improve the Services and facilities
*Encourage creativity and the
pursuit of excellence by inviting
suggestions from front-line staff
and feedback from users
*Continuously strive using new
technology
Some further thoughts:
*Public Services are generally
monopolistic
*In the absence of Choice Citizens
must use their Voice
*An aware Citizen will help drive
out the bad and encourage the good
*Don’t view consumers as mere
complainants
*Things do go wrong and if
Citizens don’t complain confusion
will prevail, inefficiency will go
unchecked, errors will remain
uncorrected, official arrogance will
continue unrestrained and
injustice will become accepted.
Some Basic Principles of effective
Complaints Systems:
*Easily accessible and publicised
*Simple to understand and use
*Speedy & effective with time limits
*Fair with impartial investigation
*Confidential handling
*Effective in providing redress
*Provide correction for future
Three things stand in the way for
change:
*Fear- Of recrimination
*Apathy- Getting ones own work
done some how or the other and
not bothering about the system
*Cynicism- Lack of confidence
in the system;nothing will happen
even if complaint is lodged
*In the present system neither good
work can be rewarded nor sloppy
work or deficiency punished
*Our system does not provide easy
fixing of responsibility for lapses
*There are no bench marks for
judging performance
*Even if complaints are made there
is no feed back on action taken
Three Suggestions for Immediate
Action to Establish
The Bonafides of the Delhi Government
For Implementing
The Essential Principles of
The Citizens’ CharterSuggestions which do not cost any
money
Declare that with immediate effect:
• All Citizens’ Letters shall be
acknowledged within a week
• All Citizens’ Letters will be replied
within one month or say at most
45 days.
• Every Official who has public
contact shall wear a name badge
However framing of Citizens’
Charter is not the end of the exercise
• It has to reach and be accepted at the
Cutting Edge level of delivery of
services.
• Attitudinal changes and Motivation
must be inculcated from top to
bottom.
Continued---
• Evaluation procedures have to be put in
place
- both internally and
- Externally through regular feedback
from the public
• Benchmarks of Performance need to be
identified for every service
- both for individual Performance &
- Collective achievement
Continued---
• Charter mark system based on overall
Performance have to be developed for each
Organisation
• Results of periodic Performance w.r.t. to
targets should be made public
• Standards as fixed should be continuously
monitored for improvement
• Above all there must be a commitment from
top to bottom in each Organisation for
successful implementation of Charter
Principles.
Thank you
I am now open
to
Questions