Accountability Bill lacks clarity, say RTI activists

Jaipur: Although the Gehlot government has put the Accountability Bill draft in public domain, people associated with the Right to Information and Employment have expressed disappointment over it. They claimed that the draft has several flaws and lacks clarity on the ‘actual power’ of the law.
“We are happy that the government has taken at least some steps to pass the law. But the draft they had put in public domain has several flaws. We want the government to amend the draft and enact the law as soon as possible,” said Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) at a press conference here on Tuesday.
The proposed law aims at delineating the minimum standards of service delivery, making provisions for citizens’ right to be heard, their grievances acknowledged and their time-bound redress.
Like the RTI Act, the accountability bill seeks to ensure that accountability flows from the administration to the people. It relies upon legal provisions under the Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 and the Right to Hearing Act of the Rajasthan government.
“Going through the draft, we found out that the different flaws of the law have no time limits. Second, nothing has been mentioned about the powers of the commissions of the law. Third, there is no mention of the amount of fine to be imposed. It seems that the law has no power ,” added Dey. Dey said that provisions which were there in the Right to Hearing Act 2012 and Grievance Redressal Act 2011 have been removed from this draft.
“Until and unless proper provisions are inserted in the draft the law won’t help the citizens,” said human rights activist Kavita Srivastva.