CHENNAI: Police detained a few Satta Panchayat Iyakkam ( SPI ) activists on Thursday when they tried to form a human chain on Marina Beach here to demand enactment of the right to services legislation (RTS Act) in Tamil Nadu.

"Police were mute spectators when the ruling party’s MLAs formed a human chain in the same place protesting against a Bangalore special court’s verdict in a disproportionate assets case involving former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. So they don’t have the right to detain us for a demanding RTS Act,” said Jai Ganesh, state secretary of the SPI. "This shows the biased approach of the state police,” he added.

Activists say 18 states, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, have introduced the RTS Act to prevent corruption and to bring accountability in government services. Under the RTS Act, if a government official fails to provide the stipulated services within the prescribed time, he or she has to pay a fine ranging between Rs 250 and Rs 5,000.

The activists suggest that driving licences, vehicle registration, passports, ration cards, caste, domicile and income certificates and social security pensions should be brought under the purview of the RTS Act.

“The members of the public should be informed about the time within which these should be delivered. The RTS Act will have a provision to punish them for delaying services,” said SPI general secretary Senthil Arumugam.

Many government departments blame lack of stationery items and absence of officials for the delay in providing services. “In some cases, officials openly demand bribes for simple services such as changing the address in a ration card or issuing an encumbrance certificate for a piece of property,” said SPI president Siva Elango.

