Prajavani grievance redressal system to get better

Nikhil Dey and other jury members at a public hearing on grievance redressal system in Hyderabad on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SPEC IAL ARRANGEMENT

Prajavani State Nodal Officer Divya Devarajan on Monday said that the government will soon initiate an information portal on the lines of Rajasthan’s Jan Soochna portal and the grievance redressal system will be made a robust one.

“Starting the Prajavani is a big step towards grievance redressal by the government. We are planning to take this forward to build a stronger grievance redressal system. The Chief Minister is also taking interest in enacting a public accountability law,” she said.

Ms. Devarajan was speaking at a public hearing on the ongoing grievance redressal system jointly organised by Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Telangana Urban Struggles Forum, People’s Monitoring Committee, and several other civil society organisations.

The hearing saw over 200 people coming from various districts, and their testimonies were heard by a people’s jury comprising founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan Nikhil Dey, founder of Gramya Resource Centre for Women Rukmini Rao, social activist Sujatha Surepally, and National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements convenor Meera Sanghamitra.

The testimonies of the aggrieved people were about poor implementation of Forest Rights Act, delayed compensation on deaths under COVID 19 and the SC/ST Atrocities Act, non-payment of widow pension, gig workers insurance claims and loss of pay, farmer suicide compensation pending for more than 8 years, rejection of ration card, incorrect Aadhaar details linked to Patta passbook, among others.

The jury observed that there has been widespread denial of accountability. People continue to visit multiple offices at personal and economic costs for lack of relevant information related to applications and implementation of schemes available in the public domain. There was also an absence of a time-bound, decentralised and effective grievance redress mechanism.

The hearing drew an eight-point resolution with demands, including a facility to track application status, a law to ensure all applications are processed in a time-bound manner and penalties for failing to adhere to it. The resolution also emphasised that without a legal framework Prajavani will not be able to effectively redress peoples’ grievances.

Commissioner, Electronic Service Delivery, T. Ravi Kiran assured that soon a public information portal would be launched and talks with various departments about integrating the information was underway.