Nitish Kumar’s Right to Service Bill to punish lazy bureaucrats in Bihar

THE Central government may have failed to introduce Civil Services Bill which was drafted almost two years ago, but Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar riding high on his landslide victory is moving ahead fast in undertaking massive administrative reforms in his state.

Bihar government plans to introduce a Right to Service Bill, which envisages a stipulated time for services to citizens, such as issuing a ration card, power connection and birth and death certificates. And once the Bill is passed, there will be a major crackdown on efficient and lazy bureaucracy in the state. Currently, citizens need to wait for a long time to get these basic services, but this new Act will ensure severe punishment for bureaucrats who fail to deliver those basic services on stipulated time.

The Central government’s Civil Services Bill is however different in nature. Indian bureaucrats have been closely watching the development related to the Bill as it envisages to break them free from the clutches of their political masters in matters related to transfers among others.

A number of former bureaucrats including ex-revenue secretary NK Singh (1964 batch IAS) and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh or RCP, (1984 batch IAS), are close confidantes of Nitish Kumar who guide him on administrative measures for the state. Both Singh and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh are now Rajya Sabha MPs.

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