WHAT IS CITIZEN'S CHARTER

WHAT IS CITIZEN'S CHARTER

• It is an instrument that seeks to make an organization transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly. the aim was to ensure that public services are made responsive to the citizens they serve.
• A Citizens' Charter is basically the set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of services it delivers.
 • It is a public statement that defines:-

1. Entitlements of citizens to a specific service
2. The standard of service.
3. The condition to be met by the users and the remedies available in the case of non-compliance of standards.

The concept empowers the citizens to demand the standards of services committed by the organization.

• The fundamental aim of the Citizens' Charter is to make services citizen-centric by ensuring that these services are demand-driven rather than supply-driven. 
• The ARC lays down six principles that characterise the citizens'- charter:-

1. Quality (improving quality of services ) 
2. Choice (for the users whatever possible) 
3. Standards (specifying what to expect within a time frame)
4. Value (for taxpayers' money)
5. Accountability (of the service provider ) 6. Transparency (in rules, procedures, schemes and grievance redressal)

• The idea was presented without precedent for the UK in the mid 1990s and addressed the milestone shift in the conveyance of public administrations. In India ,111 focal services/offices/associations have up to this point planned Citizens' Charters. 
• The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 (Citizens Charter) looks to make an instrument to guarantee opportune conveyance of labor and products to residents. It requires each open power to distribute a CC inside a half year of the initiation of the Act and imposes a punishment of up to Rs 50,000 for inability to deliver administrations. 

CONSTRAINTS

Absence of public mindfulness: just a little level of end-clients know about the responsibilities put forth in the CC since successful attempts of imparting and instructing the general population about the guidelines of conveyance guarantee have not been embraced.

 • Charters are rarely updated: making it a one-time exercise, frozen in time.
 • Little interest shown by the organizations in adhering to their C: since there is no citizen friendly mechanism to compensate the citizen if the organization defaults.

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