Stressing on results-driven and prompt disposal of public grievances, Principal Secretary to Governor, Umang Narula, today called for streamlining and strengthening internal monitoring mechanism in various departments for delivering good governance.Mr Narula made these remarks while chairing a review meeting of the JK Governor’s Grievance Cell at Church Lane here this afternoon.Coordinator JK Governor’s Grievance Cell, Inam-ul-Haq Siddiqi were also present at the meeting.“If a robust grievance redressal mechanism is in place in every Department, the public won’t need to approach the Governor’s Grievance Cell with their complaints every time,” he said and added that strengthening of internal grievance mechanism will not only ensure quality and speedy disposal of grievances but also improve governance at various levels.The Principal Secretary said the Governor N N Vohra is personally monitoring the issues faced by the public as well as the state employees through the Grievance Cell. He asked the officials to ensure that the grievances and complaints brought into their notice get addressed qualitatively and promptly.
Giving out details, the officials informed the Principal Secretary that 6376 complaints have been received since the state was brought under Governor’s rule in June this year, of which 4825 complaints were forwarded to the respective departments, 3386 complaints have been disposed, 1239 rejected, 553 escalated back to office while over 300 are in open mode. The officials of various state departments informed the meeting that most of the complaints received through the Governor’s Grievance Cell are related to the development works like macadamisation of roads, opening of new schools, water and power supply, etc. “Departments have to be generally driven by the plans and projects which are in the larger public interest. But wherever genuine demands have been raised at the delegation or individual levels, the departments must prepare a detailed plan and place the same before the Government so that adequate resources are arranged for the same after examining the feasibility,” he said. Nodal Officers of the R&B Department, Civil Secretariat, Chief Engineer PWD (R&B) Kashmir, J&K Service Selection Board, Chief Engineer, PDD (M&RE, Kashmir), PHE and I&FC Department, Civil Secretariat, Chief Engineer PHE Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Directorate of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Kashmir, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Directorate of School Education Kashmir. Directorate of Health, Kashmir and Health and Medical Education Department, Civil Secretariat attended the meeting.