NEW DELHI: Gandhian Anna Hazare's anti-graft stir seems to have united the political class both inside and outside Parliament.
The department of personnel and training (DoPT) is drafting a fresh public grievances bill that will incorporate suggestions not only from civil society organizations, but also look at similar Acts being followed in NDA-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar to come out with an effective legislation. DoPT minister V Narayansamy said this is as per the resolution passed by a voice vote in Parliament last Saturday as a pre-condition to Anna calling off his 13-day fast.
The three issues that both Houses of Parliament had committed themselves to in the face of growing public support to Anna's movement were setting up of Lokayuktas in states, inclusion of lower judiciary in Lokpal's ambit and a citizens' charter.
"The department is working on the public grievances Bill. Earlier drafts are available and also the ones prepared by civil society organizations. We will take all of them into account and also look at the public service Acts of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh to incorporate their best practices to come up with an effective legislation. This is as per the resolution adopted in Parliament last week, but we are not looking at any particular time limit. It will be done as soon as possible," Narayansamy said.
He refused to be drawn into a statement whether there are deficiencies in existing drafts to make a revision essential, but reiterated that the government is committed to bring a law. He hoped that a strong mechanism for grievance redressal would bring succour to citizens. He also didn't want to comment whether the models followed in NDA-ruled states could be replicated.
"Let the bill be ready. All those things can be ascertained at a later stage. Now, the priority is to develop an administrative framework for a better service delivery mechanism," he added, maintaining that "there is no problem in looking at how other states have done it."
The law ministry has put up a model public services law, the public services (protection and regulation) bill, 2010, on its website inviting public comments. It has elements of a citizens' charter where appropriate governments are required to prescribe standards for public services facilities and also public service performance standards for proper functioning of public authorities. The law was one of the items included in the President's address to Parliament on June 4, 2009. It is supposed to cover functionaries providing important services like education, health, rural development etc.
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