BENGALURU: Citizens have questioned the grievance redressal system in force in Karnataka, despite over 98 per cent of complaints being disposed of positively. They complained that grievances were disposed of without being properly addressed, or delays due to bureaucracy in government departments.
The Janaspandana-iPGRS (integrated Public Grievance Redressal System) was launched in November 2021 and received 57,865 grievances until December 16, 2022. In all, 43,805 complaints (98.1 per cent) were disposed of positively. The iPGRS portal also showed that 13,614 grievances remained pending for redressal.
Statistics showed that the Urban Development (20.2%), Revenue (19.2%) and Rural and Panchayati Raj (13.4%) departments received maximum grievances related to pension schemes, land issues, acid attack victim pensions, services under various government schemes and even administrative issues.
A complainant from Bengaluru, Mohan K, has been fighting for a land registration case since 2017. He filed several complaints in the past two years but no action has been taken so far. He said that several times, officers tried putting his complaint in the ‘disposed-of’ category without the issue being resolved.
He even called it a scam, and said the department did not properly address their complaints. Government officials lacked accountability, and the bureaucracy would cause complaints to travel from one officer to another, causing pendency, he said.
HM Venkatesh, an activist, called the 98 per cent disposal of grievances a “manipulation of data”. He said that often, complaints were thrown from one desk to another, which cause delays. Often, complaints remain unattended for a long time.
An official from the RDPR said the high number of taluks under the department were the reason for them to come under the top three. Explaining the pendency of several complaints, the official said it depended on the nature and complexity of the complaint. If several departments were involved, it would take longer to consult all parties and dispose of them accordingly.