Sakala: Get government services delivered to you on time

By Aratrika Dey

Across India, citizens are frustrated when the promised delivery of a particular service from the government is either received after the due date or not at all.  That is when you should turn to Sakala, a public service scheme under the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011. If your application is delayed, Sakala will speed it up. 

What is ‘Sakala’?

Sakala delivers 150 services to the citizens of Karnataka in a time-bound manner. Coined by the citizens, ‘Sakala’ means ‘on time’ in Kannada. Karnataka is the tenth state in India to incorporate a law under the Right to Public Services legislation to ensure the delivery of Government rendered public services to citizens within a specified time. The Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act came into effect from 1st January 2012.  The act standardizes and simplifies citizen delivery systems under the government, making the authorities more accountable, and ensuring better adinistration in a time-bound manner.

Some significant provisions of the act

The act makes it mandatory that every citizen who has submitted an application be acknowledged and the designated officer must provide the demanded service. If an application is rejected, the officer has to give his reasons for the rejection to the applicant.

Under the Act, citizens are provided with 1025 services, through 108 departments such as local authority, revenue, transportation, home and education, women and child welfare, to name a few.

Did you know that you could be paid remuneration if your government work is delayed? No worries, when it comes to delays in service delivery, any designated officer who fails to provide public services to any citizen within the prescribed time frame will be penalized. The penalty will be a monetary compensation to the citizen who was denied the service, at the rate of Rs 20-Rs 500 per day. If an officer defaults seven times, disciplinary action will be taken.

The application process

A citizen can apply for the service they require by either choosing to go to their regional office or apply online on the Karnataka Sakala Services Act web portal. Once the application is submitted, the applicant is provided with an acknowledgment and a fifteen-digit GSC number, which reaches them through an SMS. This provides insurance that the service request will be processed within the specified time frame. If one wishes to know the status of their application, they should enter their GSC number on the website.

The system also offers a mobile procedure where citizens can check the status of their applications. Just send an SMS with the fifteen-digit GSC number. The system will send in an automated reply informing the citizen of their current application status. Besides, the system also sends messages every time the application status changes. However, given how it is necessary to register with your contact numbers during the registration, not many people have to go back and message their GSC numbers to the system. Besides, the finished certificate will be sent to your digital locker from where you can download the certificate according to your convenience. This system also reduces the number of office visits. For more details, you can call the call center at 080-4455-4455. 

Rejected applications

If an application is rejected or a citizen has not been provided with their required service within the given time limit, or if the same issue has occurred and the designated officer has not intimated the reason for rejection, the citizens can appeal before the competent officer with their grievances. The complaint has to be accompanied by the GSC number, or phone in the call center and ask for details.

The citizens have the right to ask for the cash compensation amount of Rs 20-Rs 500 per day for the mishap from the competent officer. The reimbursement sum is not deducted from government finances but from the salary of the designated officer or any other employee involved in the delay.

For additional information, or to browse through Frequently Answered Questions, visit the web page of the act. We can hope that raising awareness about the citizen’s right to citizen-related government services is a step in the right direction that will help bring transparency and efficiency in the realm of public service and make authorities more accountable.