source KPRTS
Transforming Governance: The Role of RTPS Commission
No matter how different the system of government and governance in different countries of the world but they all have one value in common and that is to declare the people as the main center of power. Democracy started to get more importance in modern governance, the main reason is to give more importance to the opinions of the people, as a result of which some basic responsibilities were determined between the people and the government. The provision of fundamental rights was made mandatory on the state’s side.
In the constitutions of all the countries of the world, some basic rights of the citizens were set, in return of which the people were obliged to pay taxes to the states. After getting health, education, freedom of speech and other basic rights, the Citizen Charter movement spread from Great Britain to different countries. In the context of this movement, countries began to adopt an approach based on access to public services at the stipulated time. The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh was the first state in South Asia to make various public service delivery departments bound by this law in 1997.
After that, about 19 states of India have successively enacted legislation under which various public services listed for efficient and timely delivery. At present, there are about 200 such basic services in India which are provided to the people at their doorsteps.
In the general elections of 2013, a big change was heard in the election slogans in Pakistan, where transparency, accountability and good governance were declared as the axis of welfare of the common people. The Right to Public Services Act was passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in January 2014, which provides the residents of the province with the legal right to access public services on time and also imposes liability for non-delivery or neglect of services on time, makes government officials accountable.
Services means all the basic services that are provided by the government entities to the public with charge or free of charge. Such as different types of certificates, licenses, registries and other facilities.
A commission called the Right to Public Services Commission was formed to achieve this goal. This commission sets the time and fees for public services and holds government officials accountable for providing quality services.
A chief commissioner and two commissioners are included in the commission, while district monitoring officers have been appointed in all the districts of the province, who are responsible for implementing this law and collecting data related to public services delivery. The commission is currently monitoring 80 services of 14 government departments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Written by: Sajid Anwar Wardag
