Delhi Assembly has passed the Delhi (Right Of Citizen To Time Bound Delivery of Services) Amendment Bill, a piece of legislation that will automatically deduct salaries of babus in cases of delay in delivering Government services on their part. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was not present in the Assembly, described the passage of the Bill as a “huge victory” in the fight against corruption and lamented his inability to attend the House on the occasion due to ill-health.
This is because the citizen had to apply to demand compensation and also apply to higher officers in case he does not get the services on time for demanding action against junior officers. The previous act only had provisions for meager compensation of Rs20 per day and a maximum of Rs200 for all kinds of delayed services, whereas in the amendment it is proposed to have higher and different compensation amount for different services.
“With this bill, people will actually feel that this Government is the Government of people. This bill will make things easy for the people and ensure time-bound delivery of services,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia while replying the debate on the Bill.
Welcoming the bill, AAP MlA Jarnail Singh said, “The bill also states an amendment in the meaning of ‘Government’ from lieutenant Governor of NCT Delhi to ‘Government’ meaning the Government of NCT of Delhi, which is the real meaning of the Government.”
However, leader of Opposition objected to the bill and said even if officer is paying money for not delivering work on time; his/her accountability is not fixed.
“The Government should look into this and do something that creates fear among public servants to deliver work on time,” Gupta added.
Moreover, Delhi Assembly also tabled Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions (Delhi Amendment) Bill, 2015, that aims to introduce changes in law to ensure implementation of the Wage Board. Another bill suggesting amendment in Minimum Wages bill was introduced. This bill seeks to revise the minimum rates of wages of workers.