Many countries have Product Liability Acts under which
, product manufacturers are held responsible / accountable for any hurt /
damage caused to the users of their products ( even years later )
Especially in USA , this Act is very stringent and the
liability extends even to the suppliers who might have supplied a defective
component / sub-assembly which went into the final product
I am not aware of any such Act in India ; nor have
heard of any instance where ( say , for example ) a car manufacturer is dragged
to court for a defective brake which caused deaths due to failure to perform
But what we , in India , need rather badly right now ,
is a Service Liability Act
There are only a few “ products “ that Indian Government
manufactures and sells to its citizens ( through PSUs ) but throughout the day,
government servants / employees , deliver a host of SERVICES to the citizens –
services that they are required to deliver legally / constitutionally or in an
implied manner
For a timely delivery of such services , some states
have introduced “ Delivery of Services Act “
They might have even prescribed some “ penalty /
punishment “ for “ late or no “ delivery
But such instances are rare . Following is an example :
But for the strict direction of the Supreme Court ,
nothing would have happened and the persons responsible would have continued to
ignore the sufferings of millions Delhi-ites !
Just to emphasize my point , do you think any
government servant would go to jail for the following ? :
Mumbai: One dead as SRA high-rise building in
Mahalaxmi catches fire
QMumbai:
City’s Air as Bad as Delhi’s; Fire in Aarey
No closure for victims of
Bhopal gas tragedy
Not a single day passes without newspapers reporting
dozens of such cases of ( what I like to call ) :
CRIMES OF OMISSIONS [ as against “ Crimes
of Commissions “ ]
Following owe their existence to such “ Crimes of Omissions “ :
Millions of Indians die PREMATURE DEATH every year , due to :
> Water and Air Pollution
> Dowry ( Bride burning )
> Child Labour
> Occupational Hazards ( Chemical / Coal / Cement
industries )
> Miscarriage / Abortions / Pregnancy deaths
> Smoking / Tobacco chewing
> Junk Food / Adulterated Food
> Daru ( liquor ) laced with ethyl alcohol
> Fake Medicines............................etc
And who are responsible for keeping 28.7 Crores of Indians
illiterate ( 37 % of World's illiterate ) , 66 years after independence ?
Is that because ,
> " CRIMES OF OMISSIONS "
are taken for granted ?
> Deaths due to such Acts are treated as "
NATURAL " ( not preventable ) ?
> Politicians don't think talking about these ,
will get votes ?
> Media could not care less ! TRP is all that matters for getting Ad revenue
> Cursing others is easier than persevering
for the possible ?
==================================
To hold every Public Servant “ accountable “ for
causing hurt / damage to any citizen , what we urgently need is a “ Service Liability Act
( Govt Employees
) 2019 “ , which clearly spells out :
# Extent of hurt / damage
Minor
injuries / Temporary-permanent Disabilities / Deaths
# Coverage
Individual
Citizen / Community
/ Entire Country
# Time Frame
Short
term /
Medium Term /
Long Term
# Economic Impact on the Sufferers
Mild ( loss
of money ) / Medium ( loss of assets )
/ Severe ( loss of earning
capacity )
# Cause
·
Negligence ( abdication of responsibility )
/ Indecisions on part of a Public Servant
·
Poor but honest decisions
·
Mala-fide decisions ( with pecuniary gains
for decision taker )
Here is my
Conceptual Frame Work for an Online Rating Form :
=========================================================
SLAM : Service Liability Assessment Matrix
( an
online form / Mobile App , for rating by citizens )
=========================================================
Dear Citizen :
Following news just got reported in Media . Please rate
it by appropriate selection :
Metal
staircase with live wires electrocuted 2 boys
=========================================================
|
Assessment Parameter
|
Weightage
|
Most (5)
|
Certain (4)
|
Possible(3 )
|
Negligible(2)
|
Least ( 1 )
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extent
of Hurt
|
20
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coverage
|
30
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Time
Frame
|
10
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Economic
Impact
|
30
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Perception
( Most likely reason for mishap )
|
10
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL :
{ Call it “ AQ = Anger Quotient “ or “ WS = Wrath Score “ }
=========================================================
Let the Service Liability Act (
Proposed ) ,
prescribe various levels of punishments ( for Govt Employee/s , determined
responsible for the root-cause
of this mishap )
A certain time period may be prescribed for the
citizens to fill up the form for each mishap
If , my proposal sounds too REVOLUTIONARY / RADICAL ( even for our bold and decisive, PM ), then , to begin
with, some NGO ( eg : ADR ? ) may consider implementing this on its own , to
create awareness and to educate the public in airing their opinion / feedback ,
on what lapses they see around them , everyday
========================================================
12 June 2019
hcp@RecruitGuru.com
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