Redressing the grievances
Redressing public grievances is high on the agenda of every government. Same stands true for the governor’s administration as well. That being the reason that every other day the government issues statements about the number of complaints received by various departmental heads and grievance sections set up by the government in various government departments.
We also get details of the number of complaints that are claimed to be resolved and an impression is given that the grievance redressal mechanism is working with utmost perfection and commitment.
But what is actually happening on ground is totally opposite to the views reflected by the government. The issue has assumed such mammoth proportions that the governor’s administration has censured administrative heads of the departments for their cold response to complaints received by governor’s grievance cell, expressing dismay at their callous approach.
Though the redressal mechanism should have been much robust and forthcoming the issue has not been on the priority list of the government so far. We at our newspaper offices are flooded with complaints about the governments inaction and the delay caused in redressing public grievances in government departments.
Since June, after the PDP and BJP government fell apart, the JK Governor’s Grievance Cell (including Governor’s Secretariat) received 45045 complaints or grievances of which 44050 have been dealt with or forwarded to the concerned quarters for timely redressal while as 995 complaints or grievances are under process.
Similarly, on the directions of the Governor, all three advisors to the Governor have been regularly meeting and hearing the grievances of delegations or deputations and individuals both at Srinagar and in Jammu as per the schedule and are regularly reviewing the disposal of the grievances pertaining to their respective departments.
At times, governor secretariat or the GCC seeks immediate response from the departments in the context of specific grievances/ complaints received by it. But it has been observed that notwithstanding the instructions issued for the disposal of grievances from time to time, certain departments /offices furnish the action taken report/response to the Governor’s grievance cell or governor’s secretariat belatedly, thereby defeating the concept of prompt service delivery and grievance redressal mechanism.
The Governor’s office has recently issued directions to all heads of departments to ensure speedy disposal of the grievances and to comply with the instructions to ensure that the grievances are attended to.
But so far the issue has not been taken up so seriously as the number of cases that have actually been redressed and sorted have been very few. This non-serious attitude on the part of the officials is telling upon the functioning of the entire administration and this type of functioning does not augur well with the needs of the people.
The administration should be more responsive and open to the needs of the people as the grievances against the public delivery systems is increasing with every passing day.
KV Network
