RIGHT TO SERVICE

Kerala State Right to Service Act 2012

The Kerala State Right to Service Act, 2012 came into force on the 1 November 2012 as per G.O (P) No.55/2012/P&ARD. It provides effective, time-bound redress of grievances of citizens, delivery of services to the public and making government servants liable in case of default. Through the induction of bill, the government servants are made answerable in terms of their functions, duties, commitments and obligations towards the people.

The Bill provides two-tier appellate system to redress grievances. Section 5 of the Bill underlines the duty of the designated officer, who on receipt of an application for service, will provide it or reject the application within the time limit, counted from the day the application is received. In case of rejection, the officer should justify it in writing.The designated officer is liable to pay a fine not less than Rs. 500 and not more than Rs. 5,000 in case of breach of terms of the bill.

Section 3 of the Bill says every government department, Head of the department, local self-government institution and statutory body should, within six months of the commencement of the Act, notify the services that will be rendered by each of them and the designated officers for providing services and the stipulated time limit for doing so.

The Bill lays down the procedures for filing appeals and the method of handling appeals by the first and second appellate authorities. The two appellate authorities will have the powers of civil court in matters of requiring production and inspection of documents, issuing summons for hearing the designated officer and the appellant and any other matter that may be prescribed.

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