Duties and Responsibilities of ‘Contact Officers of Citizen’s Charter’ in State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations for Formulation and Implementation of Citizen’s Charter in various Departments/ Organisations of State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations

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.          Duties and Responsibilities of ‘Contact Officer of Citizen’s Charter’  

      Each Department/ Public Sector Undertaking/ Organisation of the State/ UT Administration shall appoint a ‘Contact Officer on Citizen’s Charter’ responsible for formulation/ implementation of the Citizen’s Charter in their respective Organisations.  The duties and responsibilities of the Contact Officers of Citizen’s Charter are given below :  

I.             Job Title :               Contact Officer for Citizen’s Charter 

II.          Responsible to :          Principal Secretary/ Head of the Organisation  

The Contact Officer will be responsible for various activities involved in formulation and implementation of Citizen’s Charter in the Organisations enumerated below.  

2.1       Formulation of Citizen’s Charter 

(a) Formation of a Task Force in the Organisation to oversee the formulation of the Citizen’s Charter.  The Contact 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  

2.1.1             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 for consideration by the ‘Core Group on Citizen’s Charter’ of the State/ UT Administration and liaisoning with the Nodal Officer for Citizen’s Charter  of the State/ UT Administration. 

(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. 

2.2             Implementation of Citizen’s Charter  

2.1.1        Ensuring wide publicity of the Charter.  Conduct awareness campaigns.  Putting up the Charter on the Department/ Organisation’s website and sending copies to people’s representatives and all stakeholders and their representative associations etc. 

2.1.2        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.   

            2.3             Monitoring of Citizen’s Charter 

2.3.1 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. 

2.3.2 Publish data relating to performance of the Organisation, vis-à-vis, commitments made in the Citizen’s Charter, in the Annual Report and share with citizens/ clients using appropriate media. 

            2.4             Evaluation and Review of Citizen’s Charter 

2.4.1        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. 

2.4.2        Based on the feedback/ assessment/ evaluation, taking necessary steps for review/ revision of the Citizen’s Charter. 

2.4.3        Ensuring that activities related to formulation/ implementation of Citizen’s Charter form a part of the Annual Action Plan of the Organisation. 

2.4.4        Ensuring that all the activities relating to Citizen’s Charter during the year are included in the Annual Reports of the concerned Department/ Organisation.