Background:The 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium focussed on rights of citizens to guaranteed levels of public service delivery through Citizen’s Charters. It came to pass that over time the charters became rituals and implementation depended on individuals and institutions to take the initiative; results, therefore, were mixed and uneven.The situation at this time was opaque: very little information was available on virtually every single aspect of the public services delivery process.

Aim and Objectives:To ensure transparent, accountable and time-bound service delivery, the Government of Bihar in its Sushasan [Good Governance] agenda in 2010 listed a legal right to citizens as the number one priority. In 2011the Bihar Right to Public Services Act was passed. Its features, as stated above, included Transparency (all information related to the eligibility of a service and how it would be delivered were made public); accountability (each service designated a government servant as the responsible person, and any deviations or non-conformity attracted penalty, and dissatisfied applicants could go on appeal); and each service was to be delivered within a pre-determined time period.

Coverage:Initially 50 services (based on the criteria of “maximum demand”), delivered by about 10 departments, were notified under the Act. A majority of the services were in the form of Certificates (caste, income, and residence), licenses and permits, and land related documents. Currently the number of services stands at 53.

Implementation:Knowing the significance of this legislation, the Bihar Prashasanik Sudhar Mission Society (BPSMS) under the aegis of the nodal department (General Administration Department) prepared the ground by consulting stakeholders, analysing the service delivery process, standardizing the main elements, laying the ground for an ICT- backed end-to-end process tracking. The software was created in-house and called Adhikar. Separate cadres of Information Technology and Executive Assistants were created. About 1000 IT savvy staff were recruited and trained prior to implementation. Implementation began on Independence Day in 2011.

Monitoring:The BPSMS was also made the nodal agency for monitoring for results. Initially monitoring was restricted to a few elements: timeliness, infrastructure and human resources. Independent micro-evaluation studies were ordered by the government to identify implementation bottlenecks through the Governance Technical Assistance Support Team funded by the DFID. For sustainability, the Government of Bihar provided funds as part of its regular budget to BPSMS within a few months, doing away with the initial support it took from DFID.

Independent studies showed that while the success rate was high in terms of timely delivery, lacunae existed in some processes and citizen facilities.?Beginning 2012 the BPSMS introduced a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Relevant and Timely) system for ranking districts [38 in number]. Going beyond the requirements of the Act, citizen facilities were gradually improved and measured. Realizing the continuance of rent seeking behaviour and middlemen, surprise visits/raids and capturing on photographs of those submitting applications were introduced. The government also decided to take suo moto cognition of delays and denials. District rankings depended on performance on these measures. Most importantly regular reviews by the Hon’ble Chief Minister has ensured that implementation and monitoring are on track.

Achievement:

Penal action has resulted in Rs.2.36 crore fines imposed on 2047 employees and nearly 355 middlemen have been arrested.

The Governments of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal had visited Bihar to learn its implementation and monitoring mechanism as also the reasons for its success.

The Government has also provided online services for Bihar Right to Public Services Act. Citizen can avail the services through:-

Bihar Right to Public Services Act