What's New

Explain the basic principles of the citizens charter movement and bring out its importance.

Citizen’s Charter is a document of voluntary commitments made by a government organization to the citizens/client groups in respect of the services/schemes being provided to them or to be provided to them.

Enhancing the caliber of public services is the Citizen’s Charter’s primary goal. The exercise aims to improve communication between the public and government while streamlining government operations to better serve the needs of the populace. This is accomplished by making the public aware of the mission of the relevant Ministry/Department/Organisation, how to contact its representatives, what to anticipate in terms of services, and how to seek redress if something goes wrong.

Principles of Citizen Charter

• Quality: improving the quality of services
• Choice: for the users wherever possible
• Standards: specifying what to expect within a time frame
• Value: for taxpayers’ money
• Accountability: of the service provider (individual as well as organisation)
• Transparency: in rules, procedures, schemes and grievance redressal
• Participative: consult and involve

Importance

• It aids in increasing accountability and transparency in government.
• It has a citizen-centric focus and makes government more open to the public.
• It encourages good leadership.
• It enhances the provision of services to the public.
• It offers a procedure for resolving complaints.

A Citizen Charter cannot be an end in itself, it is rather a means to an end- a tool to ensure that citizens always remain at the heart of any service delivery model.