This presentation on citizen's charters discusses its origin, key features, process flow as well as recent developments in an Indian context. The status of the initiative in Andhra Pradesh is also briefly discussed.
2. What is a Citizen’s Charter
Expression of an understanding
Between citizens and provider of a public
service
With respect to the quantity and quality of
services
Essentially about the rights of the public and the
obligations of the public servants
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3. In practical terms…
Citizen’s Charter is a
written
voluntary
declaration
by service providers that highlights
standards of service delivery that they subscribe to,
availability of choice for citizens,
avenues for grievance redressal, and
other related information
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4. Origin of Citizen’s Charter
Pioneered by UK government in 1991
Aim : Establish measurable and accountable public services
“Services First” replaces UK’s Citizen’s Charter in 1999
Service First incorporated at least 200 national Citizen’s Charters covering
all major areas of public service in 2002
UK’s initiative encouraged countries around the world to undertake similar
programmes. France (Service Charter, 1992), Malaysia (Client Charter,
1993), Canada (Service Standards Initiative, 1995), Australia (Service
Charter, 1997) are notable among these programmes
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5. Key Principles of Citizen Charter
Quality - improving quality of
services
Choice - wherever possible
Standards - specify what to expect
and how to act if standards are not met
Value - for the tax payers money
Accountability- individuals and
organizations
Transparency - rules/
procedures/ schemes/ grievances
Six principles of original
Citizens’ Charter Movement
(1991)
Six principles of original
Citizens’ Charter Movement
(1991)
Set standards of service
Be open, provide full information
Consult and involve
Encourage access and promotion of
choice
Treat all fairly
Put things right when they go
wrong
Use resources effectively
Innovate and improve
Work with other providers
Nine principles of ‘Service First’
(1998) framed by Labour govt., UK
Nine principles of ‘Service First’
(1998) framed by Labour govt., UK
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6. Citizen’s Charter in India
Conference of Chief Secretaries of States on “Effective and Responsive
Administration” – 1996
Conference of Chief Ministers’ discussed the Action Plan for Effective &
Responsive Government -1997
Decision to introduce Citizen’s Charters in Central and State Government
departments
DAR&PG assigned the responsibility of coordinating, formulating and
operationalising Charters
o Guidelines for formulating the Charters and list of do’s and don’ts were
communicated to various government departments/organisations
o Departments/organisations advised to constitute a task force with
representation from users, senior management and the cutting edge staff.
o Handbook on Citizen's Charter sent to all the State Governments/UT
Administrations.
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7. Components of India’s Citizen’s Charters
1. Cover Page
2. Vision
3. Mission
4. Service standards
5. Grievance redress mechanism
6. Stakeholders/ Clients
7. Responsibility centres
8. Indicative expectations from service recipients
9. Month and year for next review of Charter
Source: DAR&PG/PMD guidelines (2010)
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9. Process of developing a citizen charter
Publish charter in public domain
Collect information on service
standard achieved/ can be achieved by
the department
Collect information on service standard achieved/ can be
achieved by Responsibility Centres of the department
(agencies under the department)
Plan for stakeholder consultation on service standards
of the Departments and its agencies
Receive inputs through stakeholder consultation
Prepare charter and get approval
Ensure implementation of charter
by staff
Consolidate internal information and
stakeholder consultation results
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14. Impediments in Citizen’s Charter implementation
Lack of political will
Lack of awareness among the citizens and officials
Average to poor services offered by agencies which have
enacted citizen’s charters
Poor awareness of redress options
Absence of end-users consultation in formulating charters
Lack of precision on determining standards and commitments
Little interest shown by the organizations in adhering to their
Charter
Lack of regular updation mechanisms among others
Source: IIPA, PAC (among others)
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16. Second Administrative Reforms Commission on
Citizen’s Charters – 12th
Report
Citizen’s Charters should be made effective by
adopting the following principles:
One size does not fit all
Citizen’s Charter should be prepared for
each independent unit under the overall
umbrella of the organization’s charter
Wide consultation which include civil society
in the process
Firm commitments to be made
Internal process and structure should be
reformed to meet the commitments given in
the Charter
Redress mechanism is case of default
Periodic evaluation of Citizen’s Charters
Benchmark using end-user feedback
Hold officers accountable for results
The ARC Seven Step Model for Citizen
Centricity
Define all services which you provide
and identify your clients
Set standards and norms for each
service
Develop capability to meet the set
standards
Perform to achieve the standards
Monitor performance against the set
standards.
Evaluate the impact through an
independent mechanism
Continuous improvement based on
monitoring and evaluation of results
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17. Linking Citizen’s Charters with Right to Public
Services
Limited success in addressing flaws in Citizen’s Charters through several
measures including ‘Sevottam’ (integrates the concepts of Citizen’s Charters,
public grievance redressal and service delivery capability) led to legislative
measures
The draft Right Of Citizens For Time Bound Delivery Of Goods And Services
And Redressal Of Their Grievances Bill, 2011, Government of India aims to:
lay down an obligation upon every public authority to publish citizens charter
stating therein the time within which specified goods shall be supplied and
services be rendered
and
provide for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of citizens
charter and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto
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18. Linking Citizen’s Charters to Performance
The Results Framework Documents (RFD) initiative of
Performance management Division, Cabinet Secretariat,
Government of India mentions preparation, implementation
and updation of Citizen's Charter as a key performance
requirement which will be evaluated annually by an ATF and a
High Power Committee
DAR&PG’s earlier guidelines and directions on Citizen’s
Charters have been revised and updated in collaboration with
PMD as discussed in slides 7&9
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19. Citizen’s Charters in Andhra Pradesh
GoAP initiated Citizen’s Charter formulation in early 2000s
In 2004, the Centre for Good Governance (CGG) brought
out a compilation of around 90 charters of various
departments/agencies of GoAP
Regular review of these charters took place till 2007-08
According to Public Affairs Centre (2007), Andhra Pradesh
was one of the few States providing better access to Citizen’s
Charters and having end-users who are more aware of the
program than agencies in other states
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Pioneered: First articulated and implemented by conservative party , John Major Aim: Continuously improving quality of public services for the people of the country so that these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users n July 1999 the Labour Government replaced the citizen's charter with the Service First programme to improve public services. By 2002 Service First incorporated at least 200 national citizen's charters covering all major areas of public service. The UK’s Citizens’ Charter initiative aroused considerable interest around the world and several countries implemented similar programmes e.g. Australia (Service Charter, 1997), Canada (Service Standards Initiative, 1995), France (Service Charter, 1992), India (Citizens’ Charter, 1997), Malaysia (Client Charter,1993) etc.(OECD, 1996) (Sharma and Agnihotri, 2001). New developments in public administration, The citizen’s charter: the Indian experience, Alok Sharma and Vivek K. Agnihotri, DAR&PG, International Review of Administrative Sciences 67(4), 2001
Quality - improving the quality of services Choice - wherever possible Standards - specify what to expect and how to act if standards are not met Value - for the taxpayers’ money Accountability – individuals and organizations Transparency - rules/procedures/ schemes/grievances