In a democracy, the citizen is the true and ultimate sovereign and the true measure of a government's functioning is citizen's satisfaction However, any citizen who approaches any government agency for any service to which s/he is entitled faces hostility, humiliation, harassment, delay, inefficiency, corruption, apathy and indignity. This has to change and unless citizens assert collectively and continuously, public services will not improve. Therefore, citizens should form neighborhood watch groups to protect their interests collectively to obtain better services from government using Citizen's Charters as a launch pad. Lok Satta Party (LSP) can play a facilitating role in this endeavor through Citizen Help Centers in Andhra Pradesh.
Citizen Help Centers
Any citizen who approaches any government agency for any service to which s/he is entitled faces hostility, humiliation, harassment, delay, inefficiency, corruption, apathy and indignity. Unless the citizen arms himself with basic information about various services they are entitled to, and have the ability to wade through the thicket of procedures, they cannot bring government to book. Fortunately, there are simple, practical, effective remedies such as a Citizen's Charter, which is an effective instrument to enhance accountability and reduce corruption. Mere framing of a Citizen's Charters will not transform the mindset in the administrative machinery. There are a few other attendant measures that are required to turn Citizen's Charters into true instruments of empowerment. First, individuals must be able to access these entire Citizen's Charters easily. Lok Satta has therefore compiled citizen charters of some of the essential services and published them in the form of a booklet titled Swarajya. These booklets will be used extensively to empower citizens in their interactions with the government and its agencies. Unless citizens assert collectively and continuously, public services will not improve. Therefore, citizens should form neighborhood watch groups to protect their interests collectively to obtain better services from government using Citizen's Charters as a launch pad. Lok Satta Party (LSP) can play a facilitating role in this endeavor by operationalising Citizen Help Centers in Andhra Pradesh.
A Citizen Help Center will perform following functions:
- It will become the hub for citizen action and informed assertion
- It will be a repository of information that is simple, accurate and useful on a variety of services we, the citizens, are entitled to receive from government and its agencies
- It will carry information on a wide spectrum of government activities including certificates, land-related issues, public distribution system, voting rights, civic issues, public utilities, civil rights and stake holder empowerment
- It will assist the citizens in their interactions with the government and its agencies
- It will act as library/resource center and will also host information on contemporary socio-political issues.
- It will act as counseling center for young people seeking information on employment opportunities and where possible senior staff of LSP will guide the youngsters in the career plans
- It will also act as information centers for all the activities of LSP
Support can be given for more than one Citizen Help Center.
| Estimated Expenditure for Citizen's Help Center | |||
| Monthly Recurring Expenditure (in Rs, Monthly) | Capital Expenditure (in Rs,) | ||
| Volunteers - Incidentals | 4000 | Furniture | 10000 |
| Rent | 2000 | Computer with internet | 30000 |
| Office Maintenance | 2000 | Telephone with internet | 1000 |
| Stationery | 1000 | Swarajya and Other Reference Books | 2000 |
| Training | 3000 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 1000 | Miscellaneous | 4000 |
| Total per month | 10000 | Total | 50000 |
Trainings for operationalizing Citizen Help/Service Centers (CHCs) - collective, informed citizen assertion in action:
Training will be given to identified citizens with demonstrated commitment on setting up and running CHCs at select locations. The participants will be trained to form neighbourhood watch groups to protect citizens' interests collectively and to obtain better services from government using Citizen's Charters as a launch pad. FDR will play a facilitating role in this endeavour. In the initial phase of this project, there will be one such CHC for each town/Mandal and more than one such CHCs in the cities of Andhra Pradesh; around 1500 for the entire State. It is expected that there will be another 50 established in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu during the same project period.
Training topics will include:
- Making CHCs the hub for citizen action and informed assertion
- Making CHCs a repository of information that is simple, accurate and useful on a variety of services that the citizens are entitled to receive from government and its agencies
- How to ensure that CHCs carry information on a wide spectrum of government activities including certificates, land-related issues, public distribution system, voting rights, civic issues, public utilities, civil rights and stake holder empowerment
- How to enable the CHCs assist the citizens in their interactions with the government and its agencies
- Making a CHC act as a library/resource center and how to host information on contemporary socio-political and local issues of importance.
- Enabling a CHC to also act as a counseling center for young people seeking info FDR will guide the youngsters in the career plans
- Develop a good grasp of the concept of a CHC within the context of citizen-centered governance framework
- Fully understand the mechanics of setting up and running a CHC in their town/city/area; be fully equipped with the information and material needed to make their CHC operational..
- Generate an 'implementation agenda' consisting of specific activities and timelines, customized for their CHC's setting.
It is expected that at the end of the project period there will be at least 1200 functioning CHCs in the State of Andhra Pradesh and at least 50 in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, combined.