The number of public grievances registered with the grievances cell has increased from just less than two lakh in 2014 to nearly 19 lakh now as the departments concerned have earned people's trust, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.
"When we came in 2014, the number of grievances registered in the grievances cell was not more than two lakh. Today, it is nearly 19 lakh. It is virtually a 10-time increase," he said, adding that it reflects the trust citizens have posed in the government.
The government of India in 2019 received 18.7 lakh public grievances and disposed 18.1 lakh of them.
Singh said the increase in the number of grievances being registered is because the departments handling them are prompt and responsive, which has instilled confidence and trust among citizens.
He said the rate of disposal of grievances is now more than 95 per cent which is an achievement in itself.
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Launching the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) reforms at an event here, the minister said a citizen-centric model of governance demands that there is a need to create awareness among the citizens for grievance redressal.
He said the main Mantra of the Modi government is to reach out to the last man in the queue with all the benefits of the welfare schemes.
The CPGRAMS 7.0 version has mapped last mile grievance officers, saving time and improving quality of disposal.
CPGRAMS reforms were launched in the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the Department of School Education and the Ministry of Road Transport, according to a statement issued by the personnel ministry.
Singh said the adoption of CPGRAMS reforms in hospitals and oil PSUs would benefit thousands of Indian citizens and urged other ministries and departments to adopt this significant reform step.
The minister also asked the state governments and Union territories to switch over to e-office (or digitised processes) "as fast as they can".
Singh said this will not only check pilferage, but will also provide benefits to citizens in a cost-effective manner.
He said so far a total of 79 ministries and departments have been covered under the e-office mission mode project in the current phase-III being implemented. Out of these 79 ministries, 57 ministries have achieved the target of 80 per cent.
The minister said nearly 15 lakh files have been digitalised and nearly 15,000 digital files are being created every week.
He said e-governance will be the key to India at 75 (when the nation celebrates 75 years of Independence in 2022).
"The office in any way is going to be converted into e-office. But we will have to convert ourselves to work in that office. Things are moving faster than we could anticipate," the minister said, asking employees to adopt to the digitisation process.
Speaking on the occasion, Kshtrapati Shivaji, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) & Pensions said there should be an honest endeavour to serve on-line rather than in-line, so that citizens do not have to run for redressal of their grievances.
He said IT-related costs are actually investments for better governance.
Sanjay Bhattacharya, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, MEA, in his address said his ministry is pro-actively following the e-office concept which is open, interactive and caring.
He said in 2019, 1.22 crore passports were issued both in India and abroad.
V Srinivas, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said DARPG has endeavoured to take this message forward by pioneering a number of administrative reforms in e-governance, including the historical Shillong declaration in the national conference on e-governance in August 2019 and the Mumbai resolution adopted in the 23rd national conference on e-governance in January 2020, laying down the road map for e-governance in India.
The minister also gave away awards to top performers in e-office to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NIC, Ministry of Tourism, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Fertilizers, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Department of Posts, Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries, DPIIT and Department of Biotechnology.
The national workshop held here brought together central ministries/states/ attached/ subordinate/ autonomous bodies of government of India with the objective of creating digital secretariats.
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