Maha plans 'zero pendency, daily disposal' for citizens' pleas

The Maharashtra government has directed its offices to follow a "zero pendency and daily disposal" system to ensure that grievances of citizens are addressed promptly. Offices, including semi-government ones, have been asked to classify and update files to achieve this goal.
Officials said that the move comes on the back of recent cases of people attempting suicide at Mantralaya due to their pleas not being redressed. This, they said, is apart from the safety net already in place at the state secretariat to prevent suicides.
A Government Resolution (GR) issued yesterday stated that "due to pending files, there was a negative perception about government functioning among citizens".

The GR laid down that officials in Mantralaya would keep the time slot of 2:30pm to 3:30pm to meet citizens, while officals in the sub-divisional offices would have to reserve two days a week, Monday and Friday, to meet citizens between 3pm to 5pm. The time slot for taluka officials to hear people's pleas will be between 3pm and 5 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it informed.
The GR said that government offices did not have data of how many references and cases had been received or cleared, adding that all files needed to be registered and updated by using a specific computer software.

"Disposing all pending cases and ensuring that new cases received are cleared in a specific timeframe of seven to 15 days is the need of the hour. It is also important that the merit of a case is not compromised during expeditious disposal," an official in the General Administration Department (GAD) said.
The GR said that there was a need for training and capacity building of the staff at government offices.