BENGALURU: To strengthen Praja Seva Abhiyan (PSA) launched recently for time-bound redressal of grievances of the people, the state government has made Aadhaar e-KYC compulsory for recording complainants’ details and to upload the grievances on to Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (iPGRS) within two days of their submission.
The government has plans to digitise handwritten complaints using OCR and AI with officials verifying the converted text.
A directive in this regard was issued by Harsh Gupta, principal secretary , Prajaseva Department, to all deputy commissioners with instructions to ensure strict compliance.
In a circular to the DCs, Gupta stated that personal data of complainants such as name, contact number and address were not recorded properly at PSA jansampark sabhas held earlier this month. Hence, such data should henceforth be collected through Aadhaar e-KYC on a default basis. There should be biometric devices at jansampark sabha venues to facilitate OTP and biometric-based authentication. If Aadhaar cards are not available or if complainants refuse to provide them, then their petitions will be accepted manually.
Stating that grievances are not being recorded properly with key information and supporting documents often missing, Gupta said counters at jansampark sabhas should have senior officers, preferably GP-level nodal officers. Experienced NGO staff and retired government officials may also be considered.
“Efforts are on to receive handwritten applications from citizens, scan them as OCR pdf and convert them into typed format using AI, subject to correction by data entry operators,’’ he said.
He said in some districts, applications received during jansampark sabhas are registered in iPGRS after several days. Master data regarding sabhas to be held from next Saturday till three months should be uploaded to the software without any delay. Unless this master data is entered, the software will not allow data entry operators to select the sabha venues.