‘Implement accountability law for civic services immediately’

Ahmedabad: The Chief Information Commissioner of Gujarat has called for the immediate implementation of the Gujarat (Right of Citizens to Public Services) Act, 2013, emphasizing the need for accountability and timely delivery of public and civic services. Despite being in force since 2016, most municipal bodies have avoided complying with this Act. The GRCPS Act establishes deadlines for service delivery in all 27 civic services and holds officials of 17 departments accountable for any deficiencies.Chief Information Commissioner Amrut Patel has directed Ahmedabad civic chief M Thennarasan to establish a mechanism for implementing the GRCPS Act without delay.

This includes making forms available to citizens, designating officials, and ensuring appropriate machinery. Patel has emphasized the importance of providing details regarding service delivery deadlines, the names and contacts of designated officers for each department, the appointment of grievance redressal officers, and the availability of boards to inform citizens about complaint procedures and applications. The order was posted on the state information commission website on Friday.The issuance of this order was prompted by an RTI application filed by Kalupur resident Pankaj Bhatt in July 2022, seeking information on the implementation status of the Act from the property tax department of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).“The Act is a powerful law for citizens who encounter graft, delayed services, or lack of transparency while dealing with public servants and this why the urban local bodies are reluctant to advertise or make provisions as it will affect their service report cards which is called the Annual Confidential Reports(ACR) and affect promotions,” says Bhatt. The Act also allows for a fine of Rs 10,000 for delays and can recommend compulsory adverse remarks in the ACRs of responsible officers.The Act mandates that every public authority, including municipal corporations, appoint grievance redressal officers (GROs) at various administrative levels. These levels include districts, talukas, municipal corporations, municipalities, notified areas, and panchayats. GROs are responsible for receiving, investigating, and responding to citizen complaints. The administrative reforms and training division (ARTD) of the general administration department (GAD) oversees the implementation of the Act statewide. As of early 2021, only a few district administrations, such as Ahmedabad, Valsad, Panchmahal, Surat, Kutch, Rajkot, and Vadodara, had published the Act on their websites. Additionally, only some offices had established systems for citizens to file complaints.
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