Moving towards institutionalizing swift disposal of grievances and making it part & parcel of the effective governance structure in the Union Territory, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha held interaction with the public through virtual mode during the ‘LG’s Mulaqaat-Live Public Grievance Hearing’ to seek feedback regarding the status of their grievances and assessment of the overall functioning of the Jammu and Kashmir Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (JK-IGRAMS).
Today’s interaction was the second round of the “LG’s Mulaqaat-Live Public Grievance Hearing” interactions in which the Lt Governor interacted with a total of 20 randomly selected applicants from across the UT and sought details of the status of their grievances in the presence of all Administrative Secretaries, DCs, SPs, and other senior officers of the various government departments and agencies, who in turn briefed the Lt Governor in response to the issues raised by the applicants.
The Lt Governor also assessed the implementation of directions passed during the first run of the programme and expressed satisfaction over the increase in the overall rate of disposal since then.
During the program, grievances were heard in the presence of concerned officers by the Lt Governor.
In one case, an applicant projected that an issue that his and neighboring households’ drinking water supply got disrupted due to washing away of water pipes in July 2020. The water supply is yet to be restored causing innumerable sufferings to around 30 households.
Similarly, an applicant put forth the issue of illegal encroachment on a nallah causing severe inconvenience to residents in the form of abrupt floods during the rainy season. In both the cases specific timelines were fixed by the Lt Governor for the officers to redress them.
In another case, an applicant raised his grievance of being charged with a fee of Rs 350 thrice while submitting his JKSSB form for the post of Panchayat Assistant and claimed refund for the same. The Lt Governor gave on spot direction to the concerned and it was informed that the pending dues of the applicant and all other similar cases will be processed in two days.
One applicant heaved a sigh of relief when his long unresolved Grievance was heard and resolved on the spot by the Lt Governor during the live “LG’s Mulaqaat” video interaction wherein he issued directions for disposal to the concerned officials within three days regarding pending payment from health department.
Underscoring that an effective public redressal mechanism is the cornerstone of people-centric governance and the government is committed to formalize it at all levels of administration, the Lt Governor observed that the one –on –one interaction with the public has the potential to reform the service delivery structure of the governmental processes and is surely going to make it more efficient, responsive, robust, and time-bound.
“To safeguard the interests of the people of J&K and ensuring prompt disposal of their grievances is the foremost priority of UT government”, remarked the Lt Governor.
The instructions issued by the Lt Governor would be punched into the online JK-IGRAMS system and it would be made available simultaneously to the concerned officers and for the perusal of the applicants as well.
Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department; Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; All Administrative Secretaries; Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, HoDs, and other senior officers were present on the occasion.