Delhiites already feeling the summer heat

Water woes top the list at Delhi Government grievance redress cell

The summer is still setting in, but the city residents have already started feeling the heat in terms of water availability. Officials in the Delhi Government public grievance redress cell said a majority of the complaints received in the past fortnight were related to water supply.

While the public grievance cell, officials said, had witnessed a dip in the number of daily complaints being received over the past two months, a majority of the complaints received this month are related to the Delhi Jal Board, followed by those against the Delhi Police.

“On an average, the grievance portal launched in January alone received 100-150 complaints daily. The number witnessed a significant dip after the Aam Aadmi Party government quit. The numbers have started growing again. Now the daily average is between 20 and 30. Apart from that, we are receiving around 10-15 complaints in physical form at the Secretariat office. Most of the complaints are related to water,” said a senior Delhi Government official.

Apart from the existing public grievance cell at the Delhi Secretariat, the AAP government had launched a separate portal

pgms.gov.in on January 12 for receiving grievances related to all the departments and the autonomous bodies under it. Despite the AAP government’s departure, the machinery continued to function as per directions from Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

The officials attributed reduction in the number of complaints being received to lack of clarity on the functioning of the cell. The department, however, is now planning to advertise about the cell through various mediums.

“People might be confused that the grievance cell also ceased to exist as there is no elected government. There were some restrictions on advertising due to the elections. Now we are planning to come out with advertisements to inform the public about the grievance cell and the online portal,” said an official.

The officials claimed that while the number of complaint has gone down, the disposal rate is as high as 70 per cent. “We have always maintained a high disposals rate. The mechanism is being monitored both at the Chief Secretary level as well as the L-G office. The Chief Secretary reviews the disposal and the pendency numbers in his meetings with the department heads, while a fortnightly report is sent to the L-G,” an official said.