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Point Out REDEFINING GOVERNANCE Sakala- Ensuring public service delivery »» Vijay Grover Defining and prescribing a time line for service delivery has been the greatest problem confronting successive governments in the country. Former BJP government in Karnataka had launched ‘Sakala,’ e-governance scheme that provides service delivery in a prescribe timelimit transforming lives of people of Karnataka. Now, access to information is just a click away, even in remote regions. No wonder, the Congress government in the state headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continued with the project, strengthening it by adding new services covering 447 government covering 45 departments. The statistics talk about government’s pet project ‘Sakala’. Karnataka government states that over 40 million applications under the Sakala have been cleared. A mere 4% of people’s applications were rejected on various grounds. The key success being delay rate is a mere 2% beyond 40 <strong>MARCH</strong> 2014
the timelines. A whopping 98% of applications were cleared in the time frame prescribed. No wonder ‘Sakala’ scheme bagged the national award under the category “outstanding performance in citizen centric service delivery” for the year 2013-14. Under the system, the penalty would be imposed on officials for delay in the delivery of services covered under the Sakala. A bureaucrat who fails to deliver service within the time frame is penalized Rs 20 per day , going to a maximum of Rs 500 and is also supposed to reply to the showcause notice issued. Interestingly while the District Commissioner is appointed the Nodal Officer of each state , the Sakala centres are run by NGO’s , spirited citizens and tech savvy professionals appointed for the Sakala mission. Karnataka law minister, whose ministry oversees the Sakala feels success of the scheme is due to friendly approach of the project. Simplifications being the key, documents to be submitted by citizens for various services have been reduced and thought process is initiated about doing away with affidavits. This considerably reduces the middlemen menace and unnecessary financial expenses of the citizens. Creating a citizen friendly government being our goal Sakala counters eliminate the role of touts. A person applying for a ration card or a driving license can do so from a sakala centre even without visiting the Civil Supplies department or the Transport Office for a driving license till such time the application is under process. While the Karnataka government has improved upon the bill, Union government lacks the teeth to push them through. Dubbed as “Rahul’s Ordinances,” they are actually policies that would mitigate sufferings of common man and help them from bureaucratic delays. Among them Citizen Charters Bill, that gives a time-frame for service delivery at government offices has been among the most awaited one. But, it appears the common man will now have to wait till the formation of new government to get the bill if it is passed. While government has been swift enough to take ordinance route on several trivial or insignificant issues, it could not muster the courage to go through the ordinance way on this issue. 41 »» Change begins in karnataka after sakala Congress MP Shantaram Naik, Chairman, Standing Committee of Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice had urged Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to recommend to the President to issue an ordinance on Citizen Charters Bill but the effort failed. The Union Cabinet failed to 40 million applications under the Sakala have been cleared. A mere 4% of people’s applications were rejected on various grounds. The key success being delay rate is a mere 2% beyond the timelines. A whopping 98% of applications were cleared in the time frame prescribed. take the Ordnance route on “Citizen Charters Bill” a time tested method for giving relief to the common man from bureaucratic delays. As opposition parties cried hoarse on the motive and intent of Rahul Gandhi, even BJP which to its credit has launched one of the first and finely executed “Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act 2011 – SAKALA” popularly called ‘Sakala’, opposed the move to prevent Congress walk away with credit ahead of the forthcoming polls. The contribution of the Karnataka Sakala team to designing the Citizens Charter Bill of the Union government is a key element. But sadly enough for the officials in the state , the hard work they put in to bring accountability and transparency across the country may be implemented earlier in neighbouring Pakistan than in our own country.
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