Eleven state governments have enacted Right-to-Public-Services laws in the last couple of years without any pressure from the centre. All except one of these states are in the Hindi heartland which is known for its fractured polity. These enactments are perhaps an attempt to regain the faith of the middle class in the political and bureaucratic system. While there are limitations in their conceptualisation and implementation, the enthusiasm of the respective state bureaucracies in pushing for these laws is encouraging. A number of measures suggested herein could help reduce the shortcomings in the legislation.
