The concept of Citizens Charters were introduced in 1997 across various levels of government, in both the Union and States. However, these charters remained ineffective due to their voluntary nature. The improvements in technology and internet penetration in India made for a fertile situation legislatie on timely delivery of services, including those delivered electronically. The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 and the the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 attempted to achieve these goals. However, the Bills lapsed along with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 2014. In the absence of a national legal framework, individual States enacted laws to fill the void in the legal framework. These individual State laws are plagued by various challenges such as lack of uniformity across States, outdated processes, failure to acknowledge the advancement in technologies and ICT applications, etc.
This Model Bill aims to institutionalise mechanisms in governance to ensure that citizens and businesses in the State get access to speedy, simple, clear, transparent, efficient, accountable, fair, equitable, and time bound delivery of public services. It incorporates best practices to ensure ease of doing business and ease of access to such public services. In establishing the Nodal Agency and providing it with statutory guidance, the Bill seeks to establish governance methods which ensure removal of process and documentation redundancies, access to deemed approvals, and accountable assessment of public authorities. The mechanisms established through this Bill would synergise the State’s efforts in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.