Citizens’ Charter

At a Glance

• What it is Public commitment by a service-providing agency on standards of service
• Adopted in India 1997, after the Conference of Chief Ministers
• Nodal department Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
• Related framework Sevottam
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Polity: Governance

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the category on Governance. A Citizens’ Charter is a document through which a public service provider states, in plain words, what services it offers, to what standards, in what time and how a citizen may seek redress if the commitment is not met. It is a tool for making administration citizen-centric and accountable.

Origin and Idea

The idea of a charter of citizens’ entitlements comes from the Citizen’s Charter of the United Kingdom of 1991. In India it was taken up by the Conference of Chief Ministers on an Effective and Responsive Administration held in 1997, after which the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions began to coordinate the formulation of charters in Central ministries, departments and organisations that have a public interface, and urged states to do the same. A Citizens’ Charter has no direct legal force; it is a voluntary declaration whose value lies in the pressure it creates on the agency to perform.

Contents of a Charter

The principles usually listed for charters are quality of service, choice, standards, value for money, accountability, transparency and the participation of citizens in framing and reviewing the charter.

Recommendations in the Constitutional Review

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution recommended that Citizens’ Charters be prepared by every service-providing department or agency to list the entitlements of citizens, specifically those of the SCs, STs and other deprived classes. This links the charter to the idea of equal access to public services.

Sevottam and the Assessment Framework

To make charters effective, DARPG developed Sevottam, a quality-management framework for public service delivery, which has three modules: the Citizen Charter, which asks whether the organisation has an effective charter; the Public Grievance Redress Mechanism; and Service Delivery Capability, which examines the internal processes, people and infrastructure behind delivery. Sevottam is described as a framework to assess the quality of service delivery and the grievance system of an organisation. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission also emphasised citizen-centric administration, which is taken up with its other recommendations in a later topic.

Grievance Machinery Around the Charter

A charter works only if complaints reach a responsive system. The institutional framework to check corruption and redress grievances includes the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat (1988), the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (2007), the National, State and District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, administrative tribunals, the Right to Information Act, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014, and the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. Some states have also tried innovations such as the File to Field programme in Kerala, in which the administrator goes to the village, hears public grievances and takes immediate action wherever possible. The charter is the first layer of this system, since it tells the citizen what to expect, whom to approach and in what time frame.

Limitations

1. A charter is not legally enforceable, so non-compliance carries no penalty in itself.
2. Many charters are drafted without consulting users and are not updated.
3. Awareness among citizens is low, and charters are often not displayed in an accessible form or in local languages.
4. Standards are sometimes vague, and there is little monitoring of performance against stated targets.

These issues are why charters are paired with grievance redress systems, the Right to Information Act and electronic delivery of services.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Governance theme Frequent in GS Paper 2
• Sevottam Three modules are asked
• Constitutional Review Recommendation on deprived classes

What Came Next?

The next topic covers e-governance initiatives in India.

Key People and Terms

• Citizens’ Charter Public commitment on services
• DARPG Nodal department for charters
• Sevottam Service delivery quality framework
• Grievance redress Mechanism for complaints
• Citizen-centric administration Service focused on users

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions on this topic usually ask about the effectiveness of charters. Use these points to add depth.

• Accountability tool Public commitment
• Limits No legal force
• Sevottam Quality framework
• Pairing With RTI and grievance redress