The Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012 is an Act of

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises 147 Members of Legislative Ass ...

to cover various

guarantee Guarantee is a legal term more comprehensive and of higher import than either warranty or "security". It most commonly designates a private transaction by means of which one person, to obtain some trust, confidence or credit for another, engages ...

s under a single umbrella at the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

level. The idea is to generate a demand for services, and to provide

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

with a platform for getting their

grievances A grievance () is a wrong or wikt:hardship, hardship suffered, real or supposed, which forms legitimate grounds of complaint. In the past, the word meant the infliction or cause of hardship. See also * Complaint system References

redressed in a time bound manner.

History

Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012 in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

is an initiative by the

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

to check

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

delivery. The law enables the citizens to demand

public services A public service is any Service (economics), service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through pub ...

as a right and also includes a provision for penal action against officials failing to provide the services within the stipulated time. It looks towards addressing the growing demand of citizens for improved public services, reducing

through imposing penalties on Public Authorities for default in delivery of services and aims at

universalization Universalisation (cultural studies) Lorna Jean Edmonds and WE (Ted) Hewitt introduced a definition of universalization as an incipient concept describing the next phase of human development, marking the transition from trans-national to interpl ...

of public services. In addition, what was under the Citizens’ Charters, an

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

guarantee has been translated into a legal right, justiciable under the provisions of ORTPS Act.

Salient features

* Different services which a citizen can obtain from different Departments will be notified, along with time limit for delivery of such services. * For delivery of each service notified, there shall be a Designated Officer to whom the citizen can make an application. The Designated Officer will provide the said service in a time bound manner. * In case a citizen is unable to get the said services within the prescribed time limit, he/she may file an appeal before an Appellate Authority. The Appellate Authority will consider the case and pass necessary order. * Any citizen aggrieved with the order of the Appellate Authority or in case of delay in providing the service within the prescribed time limit, may file a revision petition before the Revisional Authority. * If the Revisional Authority found that the Designated Officer has failed to provide the service without sufficient and reasonable cause, he may impose a penalty against the Designated

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

not exceeding Rs.5000/-. * If the Revisional Authority observed that there is delay in providing the service, beyond the stipulated time, he may also impose a penalty not exceeding Rs.250/- per each day of delay. * The penalty shall be charged from the Designated Officer, Appellate Authority and the concerned subordinate staff, as the case may be and shall be in the proportion, to be decided by the Revisional Authority. * However, the Designated Officer, Appellate Authority and subordinate staff, will be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is imposed on him/her. * Non-compliance of the order of the Revisional Authority shall amount to misconduct and make such Government servant liable for disciplinary action.

Important sections

Section 3(1)

3. (1) The

may, by notification, from time to time, declare the services, to which this Act shall apply and specify the time limit within which the services shall be provided.

Section 4(1)

4. (1) An eligible person shall make an application to the Designated

for obtaining any service under the provisions of this Act.

Execution

In order to implement the provisions of the Act, the

has enacted The Odisha Right to Public Services Rules, 2012. Under the Rules, 34 services has been included in the first phase.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012 Odisha state legislation 2012 in law