CITIZEN CHARTER And Bonus Tips-Polity(20th April)

 Polity

CITIZEN CHARTER

News

About Citizen Charter  – 

• A Citizens’ Charter is a voluntary and written document that spells out the service provider’s commitment towards fulfilling the needs of the citizens/customers.
• The concept was first originated in the United Kingdom in 1991.

Timeline of citizen charter in India –

• India adopted citizen’s charter in 1997 at Conference of Chief Ministers of various States and Union Territories held in New Delhi. The task of coordination, formulation, and operationalization of citizen’s charters was done by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
• The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 (Citizens Charter) was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011. It lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 2014.
• Principles of Citizen’s Charter – Quality, Choice, Standards, Value, Accountability and Transparency.

About Model Panchayat Citizens Charter

• Panchayats constitute the third tier of government in the rural areas and are responsible for delivery of basic services as enshrined under article 243G of the Constitution of India.
• Objective of the Gram Panchayat Citizen Charter is to empower the citizens in relation to public services and to improve the quality of serviceswithout any prejudice,and in accordance with the expectations of the citizens.
• It helps in making the citizens aware of their rights.
• It brings professionalism in Panchayat functioning by acting as a useful yardstick for monitoring and evaluation of service delivery. Thus, it ensures that the Panchayats and their elected representatives directly accountable to the people.

National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR)

• It is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Rural Development and a premier national centre of excellence in rural development and Panchayati Raj.
• It is recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) Centres of Excellence.
• It studies the functioning of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and rural development programmes across the States.