A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY IN INDIA WITH REFERENCE TO PUBLIC SERVICE GUARANTEE LAWS BY - MS. DIWANSHI ROHATGI, MR. KESHAV MADHAV , MR. KUMAR ANUBHAW & MR. ROHIT KUMAR
AUTHORED BY - MS. DIWANSHI ROHATGI
(Assistant Professor (Law) at Amity
University, Jharkhand, Ranchi)
CO-AUTHOR - MR. KESHAV MADHAV
(Assistant Professor (Law) at Amity University,
Jharkhand, Ranchi)
CO-AUTHOR I - MR. KUMAR ANUBHAW
CO-AUTHOR II - MR. ROHIT KUMAR
(Student at Amity University, Jharkhand,
Ranchi)
ABSTRACT
We all know that good governance and
quality of public service can advance the growth of any country. But what
exactly is public service, how it is delivered, what is the objective behind
providing public service and the laws governing the same are the questions
which needs to be addressed through the research article. Public service
delivery in India, is very unsatisfactory when compared with other countries.
Public service delivery is guaranteed by administrative bodies to the citizens
and the functioning in delivery of public services shapes people’s sense of
trust and hopes from the government. Despite the best efforts, challenges faced
in its implementation are many due to various factors such as identity
politics, with citizens preferring to vote for politicians belonging to their
caste, community, or religion, high rates of corruptions, elected politicians
with criminal backgrounds etc. It is to be understood that without a proper
delivery mechanism in line, the government cannot effectively and efficiently
deliver public services to citizens therefore, the Public Service Guarantee
Act provides for legislation and statutory laws that guarantees time bound
delivery of services by the government to its citizens and states the mechanism
for punishing the errant public servant or officers who fails to provide
services stated in the Statute with the time frame as prescribed therein since,
the public service are to be granted as a matter of right so that the goal of
social protection to the poor and vulnerable and to alleviate the poverty can
be achieved.
Keywords: Good Governance, Public
Service, Public Service Delivery, Challenges, Public Service Delivery Guarantee
Act
I.
INTRODUCTION
For the administration, welfare of
the citizen is the paramount concern and this can only be achieved by providing
them the public services such as health, education, water, sanitation etc.,
which leads to their better-quality life as also, indispensable for sustainable
and economic growth of the country.
In India, the public services which
is being provided are: water supply in both rural and urban areas, power,
education, sanitation, policing, defense, health, transportation, road
constructions, implementation of poverty alleviation programs. In a dispute
between, State and private actors’ capacity to provide services more
effectively and efficiently, it is been argued that the core public services
should be left to the State.[1]
It is always said that the ability of
existing administration in delivering public services is deteriorating since
India’s has a reasonable performance in assets building but, public spending in
the area of quality services is comparably less.
It becomes challenging to deliver the
services with limited resources in a time bound manner therefore, the resources
should be so allocated that there is justice and equity in the outcome of all
public services.
It is to be understood that without
proper delivery system in place, the administration cannot deliver public
services to the citizens of the country. Delivery of public service has been
plagued with shortcomings in the bureaucratic system as also the existing
political malpractices. Therefore, the delivery of public service was bound to
suffer and the worst victims of this were the marginalised people living in the
rural areas.
Citizens have long struggled to get
access to the government- provided services, few reasons are low access to
information, a very long bureaucratic processes which thus, created an
opportunity for public officials to demand bribes and intermediaries to take
advantage of citizens, specifically, the poor and less educated class. [2]
The Government has formulated public
services legislation consists of statutory laws that guarantee the timely
delivery of a variety of public services provided to citizens as well as
mechanisms for punishing errant public employees who fail to provide the
required level of service. This Act is also known by the name as “Right
to Public Services Act” and considered to be one of the most effective
ways to reduce the existing corruption, enhances transparency in public sector
operations and provide for public accountability.
II.
PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY IN INDIA
India is a welfare state in theory
and in practise, hence it is the government’s responsibility to provide its
residents with goods and services that meet the necessary quality standards and
deadlines.
The very aim of the public service
delivery in India is to provide social protection to poor and vulnerable
section of people. Delivery of services to the poor and vulnerable class of
citizens needs special attention as they are dependent on public services for
their survival and in fact for coming out of the vicious cycle, they are stuck
in.[3]
Public service delivery basically
acts as a medium of interaction between the government and the citizens. Thus,
it becomes crucial to strengthen the existing service delivery mechanism in
order to enhance the communication between the two. It is imperative to adopt
innovative practices that can ensure a healthy interaction between them.
Madhya Pradesh is the first State to
introduce the legislation for guaranteeing public service to the citizens.
After which the other States such as Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, and
Karnataka are inspired by the same and have introduced their version of
legislation.
In fact, the National capital “Delhi”
has introduced the idea of delivering services at the doorstep of citizens as a
result brokers are ousted in the process of delivery of services. In the State
of Bihar, which made the first innovative attempt by introducing two
legislations, one for guaranteed public services and another for grievance
redressal mechanism. Punjab has introduced the system of ranking the districts
based on time-bound delivery of services and disposal of the grievances and
this has created a competitive spirit among the districts. Rajasthan has a glorifying history of
making attempts at ensuring citizens participation in administration examples
include setting-up of first Panchayati Raj Institution in India, legalising
local bodies, service guarantee legislation, encompassing the provision of a
large number of services within a stipulated time and grievance redressal. [4]
If services are delivered well in
time, it automatically raises the level of satisfaction among the citizens,
which in turn adds to their trust in the government.
III. FEATURES OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY
ACT
The Right to service Act incorporates
substantive and procedure that ensures the citizens of India receive timely public
service. It also establishes legal framework for punishing delinquent public
service who fail to provide requested services within the stipulated time
frame. It can now be said that one of the most successful ways of decreasing
corruption in India is through the “Right of service Act” which
will ultimately enhance the transparency in public sector operations and
providing public accountability. Every state has a power to
enact its own State law on Right to Public Service Delivery along with the
power of limiting the scope of the Act. [5]
IV.
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
With respect to state of public
service delivery in India it is highly unsatisfactory when it is compared with
other countries. Also, there is a weak monitoring and leakage in public
services and programmes.
Administration on its own cannot
provide effective goods and services to its citizen as it is a single body
which supervises and manages services, highly overburdened with duties and
responsibilities. This body works under severe resource constraints and with
large number of incompetent staff to deal with poorly organized citizenry and
weak civil society. The administrative body enjoys a high level of protection
which gives them freedom to make their own rules such as of expansion and
expenditure without having a parallel increase in the quality of services that
they provide.[6] When it
comes to core basic services there is an ample amount of subsidy which is
offered to make it more affordable to the poorer sections of society. However,
measures which are aimed at expanding the outreach and universality of services
has been prone to corrupt practice.
Even the common citizens face
problems since there exist a bureaucratic apathy or delay in obtaining services.
In fact, corruption has become a major hindrance in providing services. This is
further compounded by the rapid growth of population which puts an added
pressure on the demand and delivery of services.
Other challenges such as, “identity
politics” in which citizens preferring to vote for politicians belonging to
their community, caste, or religion as them. Moreover, the politicians elected
are also, from the criminal backgrounds.
In order to overcome the challenges,
certain things could be done such as bringing in non-state actors in the
provision of public services is that proper and regulatory mechanism are also
in place to ensure that the service providers are able to meet the goals which
have been set out for them.
It is to be also seen that NGOs have
been increasingly involved in the provision of relief and welfare, social
services, and various development projects, therefore, NGO are able to perform
better than for profit firms and government agencies. A government that is
buffeted around by electoral concerns may result in some public servants having
to carry out policies which they do not believe in and this undermines public
service motivation. It can also be done that competition can be created between
the various service providers is an effective mechanism of reforming public
service delivery.[7]
V.
PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY LAWS
Public service delivery laws gave
people a powerful weapon in the hands of citizen in India and ensures that
citizens receive timely services.
The public service delivery laws are
also known as “Right to Service Act, 2011” has empowered people
to seek hassle free, corruption free and time bound service delivery mechanism
in the government offices. The term “service” has been defined to mean a
service notified by the State Government under the respective laws. Some
examples of services are - new electricity connection (domestic); sanction
of water supply; registration of eating houses; issuance of ration cards, birth
certificates, death certificates, income certificates, and driving licenses;
passport verification; and booking of parks and community halls.
As said earlier, Madhya Pradesh is
the first state to pass the “Public Service Guarantee Act” or “Lok
Sewaon Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam” on August 18, 2010. After which eight more States enacted similar
legislation guaranteeing citizens the right to public services within a
stipulated time frame. But there are variations in the Public Service Acts of
the States with regard to the services they provide and the penalty mechanism
for the failure to provide the public services.
In every State Acts, the key
provisions relate to providing services within the stipulated time frame. There
will be two level appeal mechanism to seek relief for denial to seek relief to
seek relief for denial of or failure to provide service.
Ideally, “the officer is supposed
to render the preferred service within the stipulated time from the date of the
acknowledgement. As per the prescribed rules of government offices, Acts, and
provisions as applicable on any respective government office, every service
should be provided to the applicant within the fixed time frame unless there
exists some genuine reason.” Penalty has been imposed on those officers who
fails to render the services within the given time-frame, the applicant is
empowered by the Act to approach the First and Second Appellate Officers.
Infact, even the Appellate Officer can be penalised under this Act if he
or she fails to perform his or her service or fails to give the substantial
reason for non-performance or delivery of his or her service.
The citizens are entitled to apply
through an application for the services to the designated officers, after which
the officers will acknowledge the receipt of an application. It is the
responsibility officers to provide that service in time frame. And if the
officer rejects the application within stipulated time-frame then it must
provide applicant with suitable reasons for rejection.
The Citizens are entitled to appeal
against the government official who delayed or denied the provision of the
public service.
“This appeal must be filed with
the First Appellate Authority within thirty days of rejection or the expiry
of the time-limit. After making a hearing, first Appellate authority can
accept or reject the appeal by making a written order stating the reasons for
the order and intimate the same to the applicant. And can also order the public
servant to provide the service to the applicant. An appeal can be made from the
order of the First Appellate Authority to the Second Appellate Authority, who
can either accept or reject the application, by making a written order stating
the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can order
the public servant to provide the service to the applicant or can impose
penalty on the designated officer for deficiency of service without any
reasonable cause, which can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000 or may recommend
disciplinary proceedings. The applicant may be compensated out of the penalty
imposed on the officer.” [8]
VI.
IMPACT OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE
DELIVERY LAWS
How well the “Right to Public
Service Act” has changed the current system, nevertheless, is the
question that now needs to be answered following its passage.
The impact of the success of the “Right
to Service Act” totally depends upon on every State’s implementation
order. If the implementation order is very strong, then the legislation can
play an instrumental role in curbing corruption and tracking the workflow in
each government department.
By adopting the Act by the States, it
depicts that efforts are seriously made to curb corruption and has foster the
transparency in the government department, which will help citizens to avail
public services in an effective and efficient manner.
VII. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN PUBLIC
SERVICE DELIVERY
To quote some examples of the
initiatives taken from the side of our government are: - “Sevottam model”
developed with the objective of improving the quality of public service
delivery in the country. “Direct Cash transfer” to facilitate
disbursements of Government entitlements. “Digital India programme”
to ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically. “MyGov”
citizen portal to engage citizens in the task of “good governance”
and “E-Kranti scheme” to broaden the reach of internet services
to the rural areas.[9]
VIII. LIMITATIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY
GUARANTEE ACT
The limitations of the Act are as follows –
Firstly, it has a very narrow scope
and covers only the citizens, attempts can be made at widening its scope.
Secondly, lack of a holistic
definition of grievance, as different state acts differ in defining grievance.
Thirdly, there is lack of uniformity
in mechanism by which redressal of grievances can be making the act function in
a better way.
IX.
CONCLUSION & SUGUESTIONS
Delivery of public services has been
one of most important responsibility of the State as also an imperative in
country like India. It serves mostly the marginalised people of the society.
The poor class in India are dependent on essential public services for their
survival and for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. But, unfortunately the
benefits of public service delivery could not reach the poor as most of them
lacked awareness about of these services, apart from this even there is
inability from the side of government in order to articulate their grievances.
Citizen’s expectations from the government departments were diminishing, but
the passage of legislation such as the “Right to Information Act, the Right
to Service Act,” and the “Lokpal and Lokyukta
Act,” among others, restored their faith in governance.
To state one of the positive changes done through the Right of service Act is
services to be delivered within the stipulated time frame and if there is no
compliance of the same, penalties shall be strictly imposed upon those officers
who makes a default.
Some of the thoughtful suggestions
stated herein below: -
“In order to improve the public
service delivery system, one needs to build a very strong accountability
structure. The media house and academician should also join hands in order to
communicate in a language that people understand and been aware of the public
service facilities. Also, raise the efforts of frontline providers of health
and education as their services cannot entirely be mechanised. There should be
public-private partnership to fill in the gaps in service delivery for optimal
utilization of resources. A lot of research is required in the area of
bureaucratic reforms. Infact, all these public services are essentially
implemented at the State level hence, cohesion and consensus among states
should be promoted and laggard states need to be incentivised to undertake
reforms. Technology can be leveraged to monitor and improve accountability in
service delivery. It is very important to strengthen the capacity of local
governments through regular training of public officials. All these would help
to provide social protection to the poor and vulnerable section of people. If
properly provided would reduce inequitable distribution of the resources and
would change the historical inequalities prevalent in the country. For this,
the Indian Government needs to allocate its budget effectively in the public
service delivery so that the disparity between poor and rich class can be
eliminated to some extent.”
[1]PUBLIC SERVICE GUARANTEE ACT,
CITIZEN’S CHARTER, RIGHT TO INFORMATION, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, available
at: https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/67146/1/Unit-15.pdf (visited on May 28, 2023)
[2] Governance and Public Service
Delivery in India, available at: https://www.insightsonindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Governance-and-public-service-delivery-in-India.pdf (Visited on May 29, 2023)
[3] Afeez Kolawole Shittu, “Public
Service and Service Delivery” (2020).
[4] Swagata Raha, “State Legislation
on Right to Time-Bound Delivery of Service: An Overview” (2012).
[5] Manish Garg, “Right to Service
Acts in India— Fundamental Governance Reforms or an Exercise in Political
Rhetoric?: A Case Study of Delhi Administration” 63 Indian Journal of
Public Administration (2017).
[6] See Supra note 1
[7] Improving Delivery of Public, available
at: https://atiwb.gov.in/index_htm_files/delivery%20of%20public%20services.pdf (Visited on June 5, 2023)
[8] Urvashi Pareek and Nagendra
Ambedkar Sole, “A Comparative Study of Various States Public Service Guarantee
Acts in India” (2019).
[9] CITIZEN AND ADMINISTRATION
INTERFACE-I-PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY AND REDRESSAL OF PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, available
at: https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/76666/1/Unit-7.pdf (Visited on June 9, 2023)