‘Revenue dept most laggardly’, says SAKALA

Bangalore: An analysis of SAKALA, the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens initiative launched two years ago, shows that it is officials in the Revenue Department who have had to pay out the most for deficiency in service. Even though delay in delivering services was reported from all departments, the revenue department officials topped the list of laggards.

According to the SAKALA Act, if an officer fails to provide the required service to a citizen within the stipulated period prescribed under the law, that particular officer has to pay compensation to the applicant.

According to the data published by the SAKALA mission, in the last two years 270 applicants were paid compensation by the concerned officials for delay in delivering services. Of these, 221 cases were related to the revenue department. Even though BBMP and BWSSB officials are also finding it difficult to meet the deadline, there are much fewer complaints against them.

An officer from the revenue department told

this newspaper that most of the cases relate to income and caste certificates and khatha transfer. “No one is aware why officials are causing delay in issuing the certificates. There are many theories. Prior to the implementation of the Right to Education, caste and income certificates were like a goldmine for the officials to mint money from poor people. Under the changed circumstances and law, it is highly impossible to generate a single rupee from these. This might be the problem,” he said.