Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day with a ceiling of Rs 5,000 on officers responsible for delay in providing public services notified under the Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012, a minister said Monday.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suren Pujari told reporters that, “It is mandatory for all government officers to provide services to the public within the prescribed timeframe. Officers who fail to do so will pay Rs 250 per day for the delay.”
With this decision, all applications submitted to the government to avail different public services will be delivered on time, he said.
The General Administration and Public Grievance Department has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for smooth implementation of the Auto-Appeal System under the Odisha Right to Public Services Act.
The state government had notified several services, including the issuance of birth, caste, and native certificates, under the Act, prescribing a definite timeframe.
To strengthen the Act’s implementation and ensure effective, transparent, and system-driven accountability, the state government has introduced the Auto-Appeal System (AAS).
The system is designed to automatically escalate an application seeking public service to the appellate authority when the designated officer fails to dispose of the application and deliver the notified service within the time limit specified under the Act.
Similarly, if an appeal is not disposed of by the appellate authority within 30 days, the system will facilitate automatic escalation of the appeal to the revisional authority, as per the SOP.
The revisional authority will examine the electronic records and system logs to determine the stage and cause of delay, and will provide a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the concerned officials before taking any action involving financial penalty, wherever required, it said.