Bhubaneswar: Orissa high court has asked Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to introduce a citizen’s charter, declaring its commitment to achieve excellence by setting a target of timely delivery of services.
The order came while hearing a petition filed by a woman named Sakhilata Sahoo, who is struggling to get the death certificate of her husband, who died of Covid-19 in 2020, from the civic body.The single-judge bench of Justice S K Panigrahi on Wednesday directed the BMC commissioner to file an affidavit to form the citizen charter and submit the proposed notification of the charter by August 13. The court also directed BMC to issue within three days her husband’s death certificate, which is required to avail the ex-gratia of Rs 50,000, as promised by the government. The high court said the long time taken for issuing necessary certificates sought for by the general public is causing ‘unnecessary public harassment’.

“It is noted that the state of public administration has invited the attention of critics for failures on many counts, especially on the count of service delivery to citizens on time,” the court observed, adding, “Public service providers, including the BMC, are increasingly looked upon in many circles as outmoded, self-seeking, secretive and indifferent to public need. There is need to to have an image makeover and acceptability among public at the state and local self-government institutions’ level. The introduction of a citizen’s charter could be a pioneering influence in shaping the initiatives undertaken by the BMC.”
The court further said, “BMC being a service provider to citizens shall spell out a commitment for fulfilling needs of the citizens. The commitments include the time limit for citizen-centric services, compensation to citizens in case of delay in delivery of such services, launching of a grievance redressal mechanism for citizens, providing the full information of the services provided in simple language, preferably in Odia, at the different departments of the BMC.”
The HC has ordered that preparation of the citizen’s charter should be done at the earliest with a wider consultation with various stakeholders. “The implementation of the charter should encourage the culture of courtesy and helpfulness by the personnel of the service provider (BMC),” the court added.
BMC sources said there is already a seven-day deadline to issue death certificates from the date of application subject to conditions that the information are in order. “No such application remains pending beyond a week. The kin have to apply for such certificates within 21 days of the death, either online or offline. In case of deaths at homes or outside hospitals, local corporator or a physician has to verify the death,” the civic body sources added.