Public grievances jump seven-fold, touch 1.6 million mark, says govt

Minister Jitendra Singh said that almost all central ministries have adopted the grievance redressal mechanism, but some states are lagging behind in this regard

There has been a seven-fold increase in the number of public grievances which touched an all-time high mark of 1.6 million per year, the government said on Friday.

Addressing an event in New Delhi, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said the increase in the grievances is due to prompt and responsive redressal system of the central government.

The number of grievances lodged has reached about 1.6 million per year as compared to about 200,000 per year in 2014, he is quoted as having said in a statement issued by his ministry.

Singh was speaking after presenting certificate of excellence in resolving public grievances to various ministries/departments.

Singh said he and senior officers from his ministry personally call up the complainants chosen on random basis, who had registered their grievances on the online portal of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).

The telephone feedback mechanism for grievance redressal helps in getting feedback and suggestions from the complainants, he said.

Emphasising that grievance disposal is an essential part of citizen participation, the minister said awareness needs to be generated among the citizens about grievance redressal mechanism.

Singh said that almost all central ministries have adopted the grievance redressal mechanism, but some states are lagging behind in this regard.

He appealed to the state governments to have an active and updated grievance redressal mechanism and coordinate with the central government in this regard.

The minister suggested that states should adopt methodologies adopted by the central government and also appealed to them to make their grievance redressal mechanisms function in a more effective manner for the benefit of citizens.

He awarded Niti Aayog, Textiles Ministry, Ministry of Labour and Employment, DARPG, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Defence Finance for their meritorious performance in handling public grievances.

The DARPG has instituted the award scheme for recognising meritorious performance by the ministries/departments for effective redress of public grievances received on the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).