Governance for UPSC, GS 2 Notes By UPSC Topper Ravisankar Sarma 

Khap Panchayats

            They are caste or community organizations functioning in rural areas of India that at times act as judicial bodies and hand out harsh punishments based on regressive age old traditions and customs.

Eg: Punishments or attack on inter-caste or inter-religious couples by Khap panchayats were recently declared to be illegal by the SC

Why Khap Panchayats have legitimacy?

1. Tradition and Ignorance in rural regions
2. No documentary evidence disabling people to approach a normal justice system
3. Lack of political will in eliminating Khap Panchayats
4. Poor functioning of village panchayats

Issues of Khap Panchayats

• Kangaroo Courts: No legal sanctity for their ruling based on regressive traditions in court of law. Supreme court in the Armugam Servai vs State of Tamil Nadu has noted their extra-constitutional character advocating khaps be eliminated
• Inter-Caste Marriage: Khap panchayats have threatened couples with threats of violence and murder guillotining choices of liberty, bodily integrity and personal choice
• Patriarchal Norms: Khap Panchayat members have been referred to by the Supreme Court as patriarchal monarchs who inflict miserable punishments and verdicts on women in sensitive issues of dowry, alcoholism, marriage and rape
  • “Masculine Dominance becomes the sole factor of perceptive honour”
• Casteism: Khap panchayats constituted on the basis of caste follow regressive, subhuman and particularistic norms of justice that accord differential treatment for individuals on the basis of caste violating Articles 14, 15 and 19 of the Indian constitution.
• Criminal Activities: The Supreme court has declared Khap panchayats to be illegal because they encourage institutionalised atrocities viz. honour killing, forced marriages, child marriage and female foeticide.

Way Forward

• Security: The Supreme Court in its recent verdict has called for 1 year of police protection to vulnerable couples to ensure their safety from vigilante groups
• Strict Monitoring: Supreme Court guidelines asks police to ensure video recording of caste panchayats
• Law Enforcement: Criminal prosecution for each participant of such panchayat in violation of guidelines passing diktat contrary to law
• Grievance Redressal: 24 hour helplines to reach complaints of harassment by khap panchayats in every district
• Fast Track Courts: Time-bound trial of violence or honour killings sanctioned by khap panchayats to foster deterrence of law

Long term

• Education: Caste and patriarchal outlook of the rural population have to be dealt with through awareness programs that start at inculcating scientific temper and humanism through education and other awareness campaigns
• Strengthening panchayats and women participation in them

Conclusion

            A cultural enamouring of gender equality and liberal values needs to be nurtured in the villages of India. This can serve to sever the root of patriarchy and casteism that the institution of Khap Panchayats is based on

Citizen’s Charter

            Citizen’s charter is a list of commitments made by a public body towards its clients/ citizens regarding the standards of services it delivers. Citizens’ charter thus aims at enforcing existing rights or claims of the citizens rather than creating new ones.

Elements of Citizen’s Charter

1. Establishing Standards: It sets standards for the public authority with regard to the quality of services it delivers to its citizens. The set standards are used to monitor and evaluate the performance of public authorities
2. Transparent Information: The citizens charter provides full and accurate information to all citizens regarding procedures of availing services and nodal points of contact
3. Choice and Consultation: The citizens charter shall over choices to service demanding citizens and shall consult all stakeholders systematically
4. Approachability: The citizens charter emphasises the behavioural aspect of all stakeholders connected with it
5. Grievance Redressal: In case citizens are wrongly denied their deserving rights of government services, an apology is to be followed and a redressal mechanism is to be put in place
6. Affordability: Services offered to the public should be efficient and economic

Why Citizen’s Charter?

Clarity of Expectation: The Citizen’s charter clearly spells out the services offered, its quality and nodal agencies of the state responsible for the same. The citizens are hence aware of their rights and what can be expected from the public authority

Responsive: A citizen’s charter although not legally enforceable puts a moral obligation on public authorities to quickly respond to citizens’ needs and demands of services

The efficiency of Service Delivery as it helps link demand and supply of governance service

Empowerment: Citizens are empowered through access to information leveraging which they can utilise government services to the maximum. The obligation on states to meet the expected level of service delivery empowers the citizens as they are able to hold the authority accountable for its level of service delivery

Issues with India’s Citizen Charter

• Top-Down Approach: Stakeholder opinions are not sought in Charter preparation hindering the achievement of the true philosophy of the citizen’s charter
• Poor standards: Standards established in the charter with regard to service delivery are on the extremes- either too relaxed and hindering the purpose or too strict and unrealistic
• Faults in Preparation: Existing brochures and manuals used to obviate the actual process of charter preparation. The deficit in training and orientation programs for employees responsible for the charter
• No Enforcement capability: Charters are not legally enforceable that is their non-concurrence does not amount to penalties for the public authority
• Lack of Sensitization at individual and organisational levels
• Non-Inclusive: Charters in India often fail to accommodate the expectations of the differently-abled, senior citizens and special category citizens
• Poor Citizen Awareness

Way Forward

• Citizen Participation: Meaningful dialogue needs to be initiated between public authorities and citizenry in order to ensure that citizens aspirations regarding service delivery are clearly reflected in Charter
• Stable Organizational Structure: Maintaining HR expertise in charter preparation can enable better charter preparation. Transfers at critical junctures hence needs to be avoided
• Sensitization among officials: A citizen centric culture must be cultivated within public organizations by conducting awareness campaigns and workshops targeting their sensitization
• Charter Mark: A mechanism can be formulated to recognize and appreciate effectively implemented charters that can serve as models to the preparation of other charters
• Inclusivity: Charters can be sensitized to accommodate aspirations of the elderly, differently abled and special category citizens