Citizen Direct at India Together: Forum for reforming Delhi's PGC

25 March 2005

Delhi’s Public Grievance Commission was set up through a resolution of the Delhi Legislative Assembly in 1996. But despite the PGC’s existence, citizens in Delhi, like elsewhere in India, have to face innumerable problems in their day to day interface with government departments. More often than not, they end up paying bribes to avoid harassment and delays.

Analysts point out that the PGC has remained ineffective partly due to absence of stringent penalties for errant officers. A statutory Commission (one which is instituted by legislation) with enforcement powers is considered far more advantageous than one which bases itself on a legislative assembly’s resolution.

A more effective way of increasing accountability is to require every department of the Delhi Government to make basic commitments in terms of provision of services and resolution of grievances, in the form of Citizens’ Charters. Many such charters already exist, but the effort ought to be to universalise them in a meaningful manner and enforce them. If any of these commitments were to be violated, the law should empower citizens to be able to approach the Public Grievance Commission (PGC) for relief.

The Delhi based Citizens Forum Against Corruption, formed in October 2004, has suggested a new law to the Delhi Government to make the Public Grievance Commission more effective. The recommendations include: a) the Commission should have the powers to impose penalties on the officials for violations of commitments made in Citizens’ Charters. b) In deserving cases, the Commission should order compensation for the harm suffered by citizens. c) In appropriate cases, the Commission should also require this compensation to be recovered from the salaries of guilty officials. d) Such a penalty should be preceded by an opportunity to the individual officer to be heard.

The idea is not to see a large number of officials being penalized, but to ensure that the threat of penalty makes them deliver.

T K Naveen 25 Mar 2005

T K Naveen is with the Delhi based Citizens Forum Against Corruption.

Citizen Direct is India Together’s channel for publishing reports from citizens who have detailed information about specific civil society concerns and matters, by virtue of their participation, association, or independent observation. These reports are therefore as witnessed and understood by the authors themselves; India Together accepts no liability or responsibility for them.
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