Rajasthan has come up with Right to Hearing. The Rajasthan assembly on Thursday passed a bill providing the people with the right to a hearing on governance related issues within a stipulated timeframe. The state is the first in the country to do so.
The Rajasthan Right To Hearing Bill-2012 was presented in the state assembly Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal said that many grievances and problems of the common citizens or group of citizens were related to the governance, which needed to be effectively and speedily addressed by the government.
“Therefore, it is imperative that, public grievances and problems are heard and redressed with sympathy and responsiveness. Proper and timely hearing facilitates expeditious disposal of public grievances, if such hearing is provided at the point where they originate then it also saves time and expense of the citizens,” said Dhariwal.
He said that the law shall extend to the whole of the state and the government shall appoint public hearing officers (PHO), first appellate authority, second appellate authority and revision authority, as well as give stipulated time limits for disposing complaints.
A complainant may by lodge by a citizen or a group of citizens before a PHO for seeking any benefit or relief relating to any policy, programme or scheme being run by the state government or the central government.
For effective implementation of the law, provision has been made for the establishment of information and facilitation centres, including citizen care centres, call centres, and help desks.
The bill will now be sent to the governor for his assent.