Bihar implementing Right to Service Act by this Independence Day

Come Independence Day, August 15, and government officials who do not perform the common man’s jobs within a stipulated timeframe will face a fine that can go up to Rs.5,000

With the implementation of the Right to Service Act, people will no longer have to run around government offices to get their work done, a minister said.

To check rampant corruption and red-tapism in Bihar, the state assembly had in March passed a bill that provides for fines on government officials who do not do common the man’s work within a stipulated timeframe.

The move follows Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s commitment to hasten the delivery of services like issuance of caste certificates, mutation, police verification for passports and installing new electricity connection to ration card holders and others services within a stipulated timeframe.

“Once the bill is implemented, it will provide a big relief to people who run from pillar to post and are forced to pay bribes to get their work done in government offices,” state Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told IANS.

According to the bill, it will be mandatory for state officials to get the work of the people done within a stipulated timeframe or face a penalty of Rs.250 that can go up to Rs.5,000.

In various speeches over the past two months, Nitish Kumar said the bill would help government weed out corruption from the grassroots level to the top.

The chief minister said if a government official failed to deliver a service within a given timeframe, he or she will be held personally responsible and the government will impose a fine for the delay.