Duties and Responsibilities of ‘Nodal Officers of Citizen’s
Charter’ in Central Government Ministries/ Departments/ Public Sector Undertakings/
Organisations for Formulation and Implementation of Citizen’s Charter 1.
Citizen’s/
Client’s Charter :-
1.1. Citizen’s/ Client’s
Charter is a document which represents a systematic effort to focus on the commitment of
the Organisation towards its Citizens/ Clients in respect of Standard of Services,
Information, Choice and Consultation, Non-discrimination and Accessibility, Grievances
Redress, Courtesy and Value for Money. This
also includes expectations of the Organisation from the Citizen/ Client for fulfilling the
commitment of the Organisation.
1.2
A Charter
comprises of the following components :- (i)
Vision
and Mission Statement; (ii)
Details
of Business transacted by the Organisation; (iii)
Details
of Customers/ Clients; (iv)
Statement
of services provided to each Citizen/ Client group separately and time limits for the
same; (v)
Details
of Grievances Redress Mechanism and how to access the same; and (vi)
Expectations
from the Citizen/ Client 2. Nodal
Officer for Citizen’s Charter for Central Government Ministries/ Departments/ Public
Sector Undertakings/ Organisations
2.1
Each
Ministry/ Department/ Public Sector Undertaking/ Organisation proposing to formulate a
Citizen’s Charter may designate an officer known as Nodal Officer for Citizen’s
Charter. This officer may preferably be
of the rank of Joint Secretary or equivalent in Ministry/ Department and should be
selected on the basis of a careful assessment of his/ her attitude and suitability for the
job. 2.2
The
Nodal Officer for Citizen’s Charter shall be actively involved in the process of
formulation and implementation of Citizen’s Charter at each and every stage. Each Ministry/ Department/ Public Sector
Undertaking/ autonomous organisation may formulate a job chart for the Nodal Officer for
Citizen’s Charter keeping in view the duties and responsibilities of Nodal Officer
for Citizen’s Charter enumerated in subsequent paras.
3.
Duties and Responsibilities of
Nodal Officer on Citizen’s Charter in Central Government
I.
Job Title :
Nodal
Officer for Citizen’s Charter II.
Responsible to :
Secretary/ Head
of the Organisation The Nodal Officer will be
responsible for various activities involved in formulation and implementation of Citizen’s
Charter in the Organisations enumerated below. 3.1 Formulation of Citizen’s
Charter
(a) Formation of a Task Force in the Organisation to oversee
the formulation of the Citizen’s Charter. The
Nodal Officer shall act as a Member Secretary for the Task Force. The composition of the Task Force shall be :- (i) 1-2 representatives from top management (ii) 2- 3 Representatives from Middle Management (iii) 2 – 3 Representatives from cutting-edge level staff (iv) Representatives from Staff Associations/ Unions (v)
2
- 3 Representatives from Citizen’s/ Client’s/ Citizen’s Associations/ NGOs/
Consumer Groups 3.1.1 Duties of Task Force
(i)
Identification
of all stakeholders/ clients and services/ products provided by the Organisation in
consultation with the officers/ staff/ clients representative etc. (ii)
Determining
the standards of outputs/ services etc. provided by the Organisation in consultation with
all stakeholders and officers/ Staff etc. (particularly at cutting-edge level). (iii)
Preparation
of a draft Charter and circulation amongst various clients/ stakeholders, management
levels and staff for comments/ suggestions. (iv)
Modification
of draft Charter to include suggestions etc. (v)
Submission
of draft Charter to Department of AR&PG for consideration by the ‘Core Group on
Citizen’s Charter’ and liaisoning with the Department of AR&PG. (vi)
Modification
of the draft Charter on the basis of suggestions/ observations made by the Core Group on
Citizen’s Charter. (vii)
Seeking
the approval of Minister In-Charge (viii)
Issue/ release/
publish the Charter in public domain.
3.2.1 Ensuring
wide publicity of the Charter. Conduct
awareness campaigns. Putting up the Charter
on the Ministry/ Department/ Organisation’s website and sending copies to people’s
representatives and all stakeholders and their representative associations etc. 3.2.2 Organising
training programmes, workshops etc. for orientation and motivation of officers and staff
of the Organisation for aligning the workforce to the commitments made in the Charter so
as to ensure proper implementation of the Citizen’s Charter.
3.3
Monitoring of
Citizen’s Charter 3.3.1 Set
up an Integrated Performance Monitoring System and monitor Organisation’s performance
vis-à-vis commitments made in the Charter on a regular basis and keep the Head of the
Department informed. 3.3.2 Publish data relating to performance of the Organisaton,
vis-à-vis, commitments made in the Citizen’s Charter, in the Annual Report and share
with citizens/ clients using appropriate media.
3.4
Evaluation
and Review of Citizen’s Charter 3.4.1 Arrange
for regular internal and external evaluation of implementation of Citizen’s Charter
in the Organisation and assessment of the level of satisfaction among citizen/ client. Report to the Head of the Department/ Organisation
on a regular basis. 3.4.2 Based
on the feedback/ assessment/ evaluation, taking necessary steps for review/ revision of
the Citizen’s Charter. 3.4.3 Ensuring
that activities related to formulation/ implementation of Citizen’s Charter form a
part of the Annual Action Plan of the Organisation. 3.4.4 Ensuring that all the activities relating to Citizen’s Charter during the year are included in the Annual Reports of the concerned Ministry/ Department/ Organisation. |