Hakim Singh
At a time when the JKPSGA, 2011 mentions for transparency, official accountability and fairness, the citizens in revenue department of Kishtwar district continue to remain deprived of timely services. More than 90 percent of them live in rural hilly areas. Some of them even do not have proper communication and transport facility to reach the department. Coming on their bare feet, they have to face unreasonable delay for various essential services i.e. EWS, land demarcation, RBA, extract of Girdwari, etc. Very few know about the PSGA, Revenue offices are still being dominated by its officials and influential people in J&K. Common persons are being given mere a next date so far as services are concerned. Their life will only change if the Act is implemented effectively. Despite this, the need of an administrative setup for proper implementation of Public Services Guarantee Act was not felt. The officials in majority not only are unaware about the Act, but also run the work on their own whims and fancies. From Patwaris to high level officials only show their ignorance towards the right to services. After its 10 years, the JKPSGA continues to be an unknown tool in the department that got notified in 2011. The fear of penalty under the Act does not matter to officials, confirms the lack of awareness among them and citizens as well. In the era of Service Guarantee, the common person has to visit Tehsil office daily and wait outside till he could not realize in an indirect way that he or she has to pay for the applied service. The price for services is paid in many ways explicitly as well as implicitly. The ignorance and unreasonable delay in service delivery compels a person to pay the bribe almost for every service. Several commitments in post 370 through eGovernance and Back to Village Programme were made to the people. While highlighting the significance of UT, the Lt. Governor mentioned that people now have not to face anymore and will get the services timely. Such initiatives would confer upon its people benefits, such as online and door step services. Surely this meant also to include the revenue department of Kishtwar district. Unfortunately, despite PSGA, the practice of depriving people of their right to services continues in the new Union territory, which can only means further oppression on them by the department. For instance, since its inclusion under the Act in 2011, the revenue department could not provide the services timely even offline. When the citizens make demand for any service, the officials not only defy accountability as per the Act but also the modern humanistic approach in their response. The department does not want to give the benefits of right to services to anyone. An elected representative, who has to be a bridge between people and administration, also seems less interested to provide a check and balance. Both local representatives and government officials stand in the same row for not implementing the PSGA. Despite fixed compensation of 2500-5000 for delaying the services unreasonably, the current government’s clear rule on EWS quota remains eventually unimplemented in many Areas. Except few, the officials believe in assertion of power only rather people’s service. Although several people of the area might get the services including EWS, but the practice neither took PSGA into account nor treated every eligible person equally. The designated authorities like Tehsildar or Naib Tehsildar have restricted themselves only to either marking the application or signing the certificates. They are less bothered about the sufferings of a common citizen which he or she faces in the middle process i.e. in hands of Patwari and lower level or democratizing the service delivery process. While the appellate authorities like ADC and DC do not bother for delay in services, the rest will hardly take the matter serious, has kept the penalty provisions also on pages only. Further, it’s unfortunate that rather providing service on time, it is delayed for lodging one’s grievances. The Patwari with his ignorance about PSGA expresses only his arrogance in response to public questions. Highly qualified citizens in minority if could not know about their right to guarantee of services, the story of an ignorant, poor and illiterate person hardly needs to mention here. The current piece is an alarm to the officials and a source of public enlightenment for direct action against unaccountable and corrupt revenue officials. The citizens just have to knock first the concerned appellate authorities and if it does not work then to judiciary for its full implementation. This is not only a guarantee to services, but will surely change the culture of such public offices. The Act demands only our attention and knowledge about its values for free, transparent and timely services. The utilization of Act by the public will also compensate every current loss of not receiving the services timely. For this, there is a need of taking up the matter with respective DCs and Lt. Governor to locate the cases of delaying the services beyond the prescribed time since 2011. Kishtwar and many other remote areas in this regard should be preferred at first wherein officials have considered the administration often their personal kingdom. Pertinently, during Digital India, All district level nodal officers of PSGA need to answer for keeping the Act under the carpet and not popularizing the same among the masses. Therefore, it suggested that a list of undelivered services within the fixed time since 2011, as per receipts available with the applicants against the revenue and other notified department needs to be prepared by an independent body to penalize the unaccountable officials. The compensation should include the total socio-economic and psychological loss that the victims have faced. (The author is Jammu- based Columnist and Research Fellow at CUJ.) feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
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