Which one of the following is not basic element of the citizen charter?

Correct — option (4), Provision for the inspection of the agency’s work.

The Government of India's Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in its handbook Citizen's Charters, lists the elements a charter is expected to incorporate.

They are: vision and mission statements; details of business transacted; details of clients; details of services provided to each client group; details of the grievance redressal mechanism and how to access it; and expectations from the clients.

Two options sit close to that list. Option (1), a description of the services provided, matches "details of services". DARPG's FAQ adds that a charter should say how and where to get the services, which is the ground of option (2).

Option (3)'s printed wording, 'To expect any public record', matches no DARPG element word for word; the element closest to it in wording is 'Expectations from the clients'.

An inspection of the agency's own work is not in DARPG's list of a charter's elements. The option that is not a basic element is option (4), Provision for the inspection of the agency’s work.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Description of services being provided by department or the agency — This is a basic element. DARPG's handbook includes "Details of services provided to each client group" among the elements charters are expected to incorporate.

  Its FAQ puts it more fully: a statement of services, including standards, quality and time frame, for each citizen or client group.

• (2)
  Promotion of various methods to get benefit from the services available — Telling citizens how to get the services is part of a charter. DARPG's FAQ lists as a component a statement of services "and how/ where to get the services".

  The handbook also advises organisations with charters to publicise them through print and electronic media and awareness campaigns.

• (3)
  To expect any public record — The printed wording does not match any DARPG component word for word. The element closest in wording is "Expectations from the clients", which the handbook calls an additional component of the Indian charter, "in other words ‘obligations of the users’".

  RPSC's key marks option (4), not this one, as the option that is not a basic element.

A Citizen's Charter is an organisation's public statement of what it will do for the people it serves. DARPG's FAQ describes it as a document focusing on the organisation's commitment to citizens on standards of service, information, choice and consultation, non-discrimination and accessibility, grievance redress, courtesy and value for money.

The FAQ adds that a charter also includes the organisation's expectations from citizens, and that it is not legally enforceable.

DARPG's handbook traces the idea to the United Kingdom, where John Major's government launched it in 1991; Tony Blair's government relaunched it in 1998 as Services First.

DARPG calls India's charter primarily an adaptation of the UK model, with an additional component: expectations from the clients, or obligations of the users.

Key facts

• DARPG handbook: charters are expected to include vision and mission, business transacted, clients, services, grievance redressal and expectations from clients.
• DARPG FAQ: a Citizen's Charter is not legally enforceable and is non-justiciable.
• The Citizen's Charter was first implemented in the United Kingdom by John Major's government in 1991.
• India's Conference of Chief Ministers adopted the Action Plan for Effective and Responsive Government on 24 May 1997.
• DARPG: the Indian charter adds 'expectations from the clients', or 'obligations of the users', to the UK model.

Common traps

• Treating a charter as a legal right. DARPG says a charter is not legally enforceable; Rajasthan's right to a hearing on complaints comes from a separate Act of 2012.
• Confusing a charter's grievance redressal element with an inspection of the agency's work. DARPG's list of elements names the grievance mechanism and how to access it, not an inspection.
• Forgetting the Indian addition. Expectations from citizens, or obligations of users, are part of the Indian charter.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, which component did the Indian Citizen's Charter add to the UK model?

  • (a)Standards of service
  • (b)Grievance redress
  • (c)Expectations from the clients
  • (d)Value for money
  Answer(3) — DARPG's handbook says the Indian charter has an additional component of expectations from the clients, or obligations of the users. Published standards (1), redress when things go wrong (2) and value for money (4) all appear in the handbook's six principles of Citizen's Charters; it names expectations from the clients as the Indian addition.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following statements about a Citizen's Charter is correct, according to DARPG?

  • (a)It is legally enforceable in a court
  • (b)It applies only to Central Government Ministries
  • (c)It is not legally enforceable
  • (d)It was first introduced in India in 1991
  Answer(3) — DARPG's FAQ says a Citizen's Charter is not legally enforceable and is non-justiciable, so (1) is wrong. The FAQ says State Governments and UT Administrations also issue charters (2). The idea began in the UK in 1991; India adopted it in 1997 (4).