Now, officials face penalty if work not done in time

NOIDA: The impact of Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption is finally being felt at the Noida Authority. The Authority has announced its decision to revive and implement its Citizen's Charter that was drawn in the year 2007.

Starting Monday, delay in completing an official work within a defined timeframe could mean punishment for Noida Authority officials. "Under the conditions of the Charter, officials are bound to give feedback to an applicant within the stipulated timeframe, failing which they would face serious consequences," said Noida Authority chairman and CEO Balwinder Kumar. "We are committed to provide efficient and prompt services to our allottees and citizens. We hope that, on their part, residents earnestly respond and reciprocate in a positive way to help us make Noida special," added Kumar.

In order to curb the rising menace of corruption and to bring transparency in the working pattern of the Authority, a former CEO of the Noida Authority had introduced the citizen charter in 2007. The aim was to ensure better standards of service and to respond and reciprocate in a positive way to the issues concerning the common man. "The objective is to make the administration simple, transparent, accountable and responsive," Kumar said.

Setting deadlines by revamping the earlier Charter, Kumar has set the maximum time for completion of a task in any department of the Authority at one week. Only permission for amalgamation of industrial plots would be allowed to be completed in 15 days, while the conversion of land and change in land use could take up to 30 days. The Charter makes it a right of every citizen to obtain time-bound delivery of services from the Authority.

"The idea is to make the lower bureaucracy accountable to the citizenry. Moreover, most works should not take more than 1-3 days to complete," said the CCEO. "If a civic official does not fulfill the stipulated timeframe, he will be held guilty and punished as per rules. The amendment was done to bring effectiveness and efficiency in the administration," he added.

The Citizens' Charter is now displayed outside every department of the Noida Authority. As per the charter, no important file will be kept pending with any officer or employee in any department of the Noida Authority for more than seven working days. The charter includes a list of services to be provided to the common man and the timeframe within which they need to be completed. All applications need to be addressed to the concerned heads of various departments who will comply by the Charter within the fixed number of working days. "People are requested to contact the concerned authorities in case of any non-compliance of the Charter," said Kumar.