Odisha to follow Karnataka's 'Sakala' model

Odisha, which recently approved its ‘Citizen Charter Bill’, guarantying timely services to people, will emulate the ‘Sakala’ example of Karnataka government.

Chief Secretary B K Patnaik went to Bangalore on a two-day tour to study the process of implementation of the Citizens’ Services Act, termed ‘Sakala’ in the southern state.

Patanaik interacted with his Karnataka counterpart S V Ranganath in the presence of other top officials of the state- Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary, department of personnel & administrative reforms and Maneesh Moudgil, mission director-Sakala. Ranganath said, his government is striving hard to simplify the procedural process and is also thinking of bringing 300 more services under the purview of Sakala.

 

“The acceptance of Sakala by the political leadership of the state barring any political affiliations is the main reason for its phenomenal success,” he added. It may be noted that the Odisha Cabinet recently gave its nod to the draft ‘Citizen Charter Bill’ which has been sent to the Centre for approval.

Under this Bill, the state government will provide 69 citizen centric services by 10 departments in a hassle free and time-bound manner while fixing penalty on erring officers. The proposed Bill will bring within its ambit key government departments that have frequent interface with the people like energy, water resources, health & family welfare and housing & urban development to name a few. The citizens will be entitled to get particular services within the stipulated time period. In case of inability to provide a service within the prescribed time-frame, the defaulting official has to pay an initial penalty of Rs 500.