Now tracking grievances - a click away

Umpteen calls to register a complaint or to find if a 'file has moved' or 'missing file' found -- all could become a thing of the past, thanks to IT initiatives by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that has helped track files and grievances at the click of a mouse.

The 'Less Paper Office' (LPO) initiated by the local civic body is a web-based package developed to help monitor the movement and pendency of letters or files. It also helps in tracking letters and files.

The LPO is part of an ambitious programme launched by BBMP to enhance productivity, efficiency and ensure customer satisfaction by using IT solutions to address these issues. "Now any letter submitted or files can now be tracked immediately, thanks to the new IT deployment," BBMP Commissioner Bharath Lal Meena said.

The first phase saw the corporation head office using the facility. It is now being used in 61 departments and helps in enabling movement of letters or files electronically from one section or department to another. "Files that have not moved for whatever reasons can be immediately tracked by this," he said, adding that it cuts down the scope of corruption.

"The LPO can prepare a register of letters and files and a report on pending files. Queries provided for tracking a file can be answered in seconds", he said.

A complete history of a letter or file's movement can be known and thus it ensures movement of files, Meena said. The package enables scanning details of letters or files and storage, eliminating the issue of files "going missing."

"We can now track down which clerk or department was handling the files", he said. "The technology has helped usher in accountability and expose any bluffs tendered by a civic employee who has been sitting on a file for too long or report missing files or not having received a file or letter," he said, adding an individual can now know exactly where his or her file currently lies and its status.

The IT facility was not just restricted to files and letters, but extended to ramping up the public grievance redressal system as well, the civic commissioner said. Similarly, BBMP is preparing a new state-of-the-art Public Grievance Redressal (PGR) System.

"The Public Grievance Redressal (PGR) System is the total integration of Voice, Data and SMSs, which can ensure that the problem is recorded and then forwarded to the concerned office and definite response is taken within a stipulated time," he said.

The corporation has tied up with Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS) to aid the call centre that takes in complaints through a helpline number.