IEP Chandigarh, November 14
Haryana Right to Service Commission imposed a penalty of Rs. 5,000 on District Welfare Officer (DWO), Sonipat for delay in delivering the notified service to an applicant. The commission took prompt cognizance of the matter and issued a suo-moto notice to DWO on the complaint of Smt. Pooja who applied for Legal Aid Scheme through Antyodaya SARAL portal.
Giving information in this regard an official spokesperson from the commission said that a report was sought from Sh. Rajbir Sharma, District Welfare Officer (DWO), Sonipat and in the enquiry it was found due to issues regarding the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and required budget for the said scheme was not allocated on time. Prima facie, the payment of the appellant could not be done, due to the inability to generate vouchers for the Legal Aid Scheme.
He further informed that as per the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014, there are two appellate authorities as the first grievance redressal authority (FGRA) and the second grievance redressal authority (SGRA) in the appellate mechanism. If an eligible person does not receive a notified service within the notified timeline from the Designated Officer, he/she can file an appeal with the First Grievance Redressal Authority (FGRA). FGRA has a timeline of 30 working days to resolve the appeal. In case the appeal is not resolved within this timeline or the eligible person is unsatisfied with the resolution he/she can file an appeal with the Second Grievance Redressal Authority (SGRA). The SGRA has 30 working days to resolve the appeal. In case, the appeal is not resolved within this timeline or the eligible person is unsatisfied with the resolution he can file an appeal with the Commission.
In this context, a revision appeal was filed by Smt. Pooja from Sonipat. She has applied online for the Legal Aid Scheme through Antyodaya SARAL portal. Since the scheme was not provided within a notified timeline, an automatic appeal was raised on the Auto appeal system (AAS) to the FGRA –cum- ADC, Sonipat, followed by a physical appeal by the appellant. The appeal was resolved without any opportunity for a hearing granted to her. She then filed an appeal before the SGRA-cum- Deputy Commissioner on April 18, 2022 which remained pending, and the appeal was escalated to the Commission.
He further said that the commission considered all the facts of the case carefully, it was evident that undue delay had been caused in the delivery of notified service/scheme due to budget allocation as well as major delinquency on the part of the Sh. Rajbir Sharma, DWO Sonipat was observed in the enquiry. He submitted the case of the applicant to the Deputy Commissioner, Sonipat for approval which was given in March 2021. Since March is the closing month of the financial year, due to a lack of adequate funds, the benefit could not be provided on time, however, the respondent was duty-bound to ask for additional funds from the HQs, but he kept quiet for more than 4 months and 14 days.
To defend his case DWO made a deliberate attempt to provide manufactured evidence for contesting the facts regarding inaction on the application by his office between March 7, 2022 and July 21, 2022. But it was evident the delay was made from his end. He could have informed the higher authorities regarding shortage of funds in due time. The Commission expressed its displeasure towards Sh. Rajbir Sharma, DWO for showing irresponsible behavior towards the delivery of notified service. Thereby, imposed a penalty of Rs 5, 000/.
While following the mantra of Antyodaya, given by Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, Haryana Right to Service Commission is making strenuous efforts to ensure that the benefits of the notified service reach the last person. Whenever complaints related to notified services come to the commission via email or post, the commission immediately takes prompt cognizance of the matter through a transparent investigation.
