Time To Empower Citizens To Impose Fines For Lack Of Civic Amenities

Government Accountability
Image used for representation only.

 

Pune’s citizens are always at the receiving end of fines, be it the random plastic bag, the missing PUC certificate, or the fabricated extension on the roof.. 

Yet, the potholed roads, the water logging and the intermittent power supply meted out to these very citizens are expected to be gracefully accepted!

What if citizens were given the right to fight and impose fines on our authorities for deficiency of service on their part? 

Paresh Kamble, A senior professional says, “ A couple of years ago, the Maharashtra government had announced an act ‘Right to services’ which stated that the authorities will be fined for delaying the services to citizens but we didn’t see it implemented in the city.”

The citizens should start registering complaints against the authorities for deficiency in services. Citizens also rarely question the authorities under RTI since we are all so involved in a life restricted to our house, building and office.

Also, our citizens are least bothered to know where their money in taxes is being put to use, Kamble adds.

With massive urban development comes a lot of damage in the city thanks to the negligence of the governing authorities. says Bindya Thakur, an active citizen.

Construction work, garbage dumping and burning, incessant road digging by MNGL and such issues are rarely questioned by the government or the media. Criticising the government is easy but our citizens also have a responsibility to question when things go wrong.

This idea of imposing fines on the government authorities should be implemented on priority.

Despite PMC and PCMC having their official websites that mentions contact numbers and mail address no one is able to contact the concerned department and raise their concerns. In fact, I bet 80% of people have not even tried doing that, Thakur added.

Kamran Gawaskar, Techie says, “Why is it that only we citizens have to adhere to the rules and not the authorities?

ACCOUNTABILITY IS AN ESSENTIAL STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR TO MOVE FROM BEING TERMED A DEVELOPING COUNTRY TO A DEVELOPED ONE.”

Our city traffic police are seen violating traffic rules, yet, no action is taken against them but they have the right to penalise for several reasons.

If we have been bestowed with the constitutional right to equality and freedom of expression, it is fair that we are allowed to penalise the authorities for their deficiency, Kamran added.

The local administrations and corporations should be penalised with huge fines to compensate the loss of citizens. It is time that everyone should be made accountabie, says Rajeev Mishra, Businessman.

Our battered roads have cost many lives and most often these cases are just registered as  accidental death and no compensation is provided to the citizens.

The road contractors and civic authorities should be held responsible for bad roads and should be fined heavily by the citizens. In fact, after three fines, the officer should be terminated.

In India, most often it is the government not delivering on their promises and they also have to be held accountable!

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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them. 

Ankita Malekar