TN govt stand sought on act on people's right to services

Noting that an elected government is 'naturally responsible' to the people and is required to provide time-bound service to the masses, the Madras High Court has sought to know from Tamil Nadu government whether it intended to enact a special legislation on people's right to services.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh, sought the government's stand when a PIL seeking a direction to the authorities concerned to consider a representation on the issue and dispose it of on merits.
"We are conscious that this is a legislative exercise and that is why we want to know the stand of the government, as being an elected government, it is naturally responsible to the people who elect them and require a time-bound service from the state government," the court said.

Petitioner Siva Elango, a social activist, submitted that the right to services legislation had been put in place by 19 states, including Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
The legislation made it mandatory for every government servant to "work fairly, frankly, transparently and without any bias as per the People's Charter," he said, adding once enacted the act would be a weapon for the common man just as the Right To Information (RTI) Act.
Citizens could demand transparency in government functioning, he said, adding demands for a services legislation had come from various social welfare organisations and individuals.

In this regard, he had sent a representation to the government on September 26, 2014, but no action had come forth so far.

Making it clear that it would not issue any directions, the bench said "we, thus, issue directions to the Chief Secretary to decide the issue in consultation with the appropriate authorities as to whether they are desirous of enacting the legislation and, if so, in how much time."
The petition was adjourned to April 20.