Over 16 lakh public grievances per year, quantum jump due to prompt response: Govt

The number of public grievances has crossed 16 lakh per year, the government said today, ascribing the quantum jump from previous years to its prompt response to people's problems.

About 2.7 lakh public grievances were received in 2014, as per the central government's written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The number of grievances lodged has crossed 16 lakh per year, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said today.

He, however, did not specify which year the figure was for.

The grievances received by the government have increased manifold due to the prompt response given by the department and public's faith in the government, a personnel ministry statement quoted Singh as saying at a function organised to honour government departments for effectively resolving public grievances.

Singh said that timelines have been framed for dealing with grievances, but many of them are lodged due to lack of awareness.

He said that the people need to be educated about the process and be made aware about the information already available in the public domain.

The Department of Financial Services (insurance division) was conferred with an award at the function under the category of government departments receiving above 2,000 grievances.

Awards were also given by the minister to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (under the category of department receiving complaints above 300 and up to 2,000), and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (under the category of department receiving up to 300 grievances), for the July-September 2017 quarter.

He also gave awards to departments for effectively handling the public complaints during the October-December 2017 quarter.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) was also given an award under the category of departments getting over 2,000 complaints.

The Department of Justice (under the category of departments getting over 300 and up to 2,000 complaints), and Department of Land Resources (under the category of departments getting up to 300 complaints), were also appreciated during the function.