Citizens Charter in Local Governments in Kerala - A Best Practice

A Best Practice

Cheruvannur-Nallalam Grama Panchayat has set a good example in implementing the Citizen’s charter in the right spirit. The panchayat has put up a wall-sized Citizen's charter outside its office. The charter enlists 55 services, categorized under different heads, offered to its citizens numbering around 60,000 in total. The applications for the services are accepted in a counter. A receipt, denoting the possible date on which the service can be made available, will be issued on the spot. The panchayat has as well, put up another large boardat its entrance that provides the details of the section from where a particular service is offered and the officer in charge of the section and his presence so as to enable the citizens to obtain the services without hassles.

Simultaneously, the panchayat had experimented a front office counter where the applicant can submit the application and obtain the serives, without going to the concerned section. Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) has included the front office counter system as a best practice in its training programmes.

The panchayat has organized a well-kept record room which would help the panchayat in providing information under the right to information act. The report on good Governance at the grassroots level prepared by the Centre for Good Governance cites Nallalam-Cheruvannur as a good example from Kerala.