Details
RTS will Ensure Government Services for Citizens on Demand
01-Jul-2019
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By Renni Abraham
High demand in India for ten most commonly sought public services by the people under Right to Services Act (RTS) has spurred bureaucratic momentum to consolidate this direct relationship (with people), by enhancing the bouquet of government services.
The premier state of India, Maharashtra, that also houses the country’s financial capital city of Mumbai, has launched an ambitious plan to reach out to citizens most, if not all, government services, on demand.
RTS Commissioner of Maharashtra, Swadheen Kshatriya tells KHL the maximum demand and response among notified 498 services, is for certification of age, nationality, domicile, income, property ownership (known as 7/12 extract), caste (for seeking reservations), shops and establishments, police clearance, residence proof and non-creamy layer status.
“Unlike Right to Information Act (RTI), that gives citizens government data on demand, RTS gives actual ‘proof of pudding’. It binds the state to a timeline to deliver the service and penalizes deficient officials,” he says.
Kshatriya has re-designated chief administrative officers of 36 districts, called Collectors in India, as ‘Controlling Officers’ instead of ‘Nodal Officers’ under RTS. They are now directly responsible for service delivery.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed all government departments to create a Master List (ML) of public services, on Kshatriya’s advice, to make the state first to bring an estimated 1000 plus services under the RTS ambit.
RTS is online, with video-conferencing of appeals simply handled electronically. Kshatriya adds, “About 74,000 appeals are pending at the first level and 5000 at the second stage.” Totally, 3.67 crore appeals were filed under RTS since 2015, out of which, 2.49 crore were disposed off.
“Twenty two lakh individuals filed applications themselves and got a digital locker within the RTS database. Their profile, nature of the government service availed and basic details with us will make for quicker service, the next time,” Kshatriya says.
Kshatriya toured the state’s tribal district of Palghar and also emphasizes on off-line application processes for tribals and adivasis, so they too benefit from the actual delivery of services.
The RTS was first introduced in India in Madhya Pradesh in 2010, followed by Bihar (2011), when the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance was in government at the Centre.
Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand in northern India followed suit. Odisha and West Bengal in the east and Maharashtra (2015) in western India also enacted the law.”
“By Renni Abraham
High demand in India for ten most commonly sought public services by the people under Right to Services Act (RTS) has spurred bureaucratic momentum to consolidate this direct relationship (with people), by enhancing the bouquet of government services.
The premier state of India, Maharashtra, that also houses the country’s financial capital city of Mumbai, has launched an ambitious plan to reach out to citizens most, if not all, government services, on demand.
RTS Commissioner of Maharashtra, Swadheen Kshatriya tells KHL the maximum demand and response among notified 498 services, is for certification of age, nationality, domicile, income, property ownership (known as 7/12 extract), caste (for seeking reservations), shops and establishments, police clearance, residence proof and non-creamy layer status.
“Unlike Right to Information Act (RTI), that gives citizens government data on demand, RTS gives actual ‘proof of pudding’. It binds the state to a timeline to deliver the service and penalizes deficient officials,” he says.
Kshatriya has re-designated chief administrative officers of 36 districts, called Collectors in India, as ‘Controlling Officers’ instead of ‘Nodal Officers’ under RTS. They are now directly responsible for service delivery.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed all government departments to create a Master List (ML) of public services, on Kshatriya’s advice, to make the state first to bring an estimated 1000 plus services under the RTS ambit.
RTS is online, with video-conferencing of appeals simply handled electronically. Kshatriya adds, “About 74,000 appeals are pending at the first level and 5000 at the second stage.” Totally, 3.67 crore appeals were filed under RTS since 2015, out of which, 2.49 crore were disposed off.
“Twenty two lakh individuals filed applications themselves and got a digital locker within the RTS database. Their profile, nature of the government service availed and basic details with us will make for quicker service, the next time,” Kshatriya says.
Kshatriya toured the state’s tribal district of Palghar and also emphasizes on off-line application processes for tribals and adivasis, so they too benefit from the actual delivery of services.
The RTS was first introduced in India in Madhya Pradesh in 2010, followed by Bihar (2011), when the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance was in government at the Centre.
Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand in northern India followed suit. Odisha and West Bengal in the east and Maharashtra (2015) in western India also enacted the law.”
