Babus do not have time for public hearing, complaints piling up
22 Nov 2014 4:12 AM IST
Despite repeated orders by the Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, babus in the Delhi government have hardly attended any public meetings in the past couple of months. The public hearing, initiated by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is hardly being followed in reality by the babus.
The reception area of Delhi Secretariat wears a deserted look. Though, the officials claim that the Chief Minister’s Public Grievance system is working properly and is on track, in reality, hardly anyone can be spotted at the windows of the grievance cell.
In his attempt to streamline the functioning of the government and make it citizen-friendly, Jung had repeatedly directed all the principal secretaries, secretaries and HoDs to be available in their offices from 11 am to 1 pm everyday except on Wednesdays to meet the public and listen to their grievances for speedy redressal. Even the Chief Secretary had issued several circulars in this regard but officials of some of the departments did not pay any heed and doesn’t have time for public hearing.
An official posted at the reception of the Delhi Secretariat, on condition of anonymity said: ‘There was a time when all five reception counters were generating 250-300 passes a day. But now, hardly 10-20 passes are being generated daily.’ Delhi Health Principal Secretary is in an ever-denial mode and is very reluctant to meet those who come for solutions regarding chronic diseases like cancer’s chemo therapy, kidney failures and heart ailments belonging to the Economic Weaker Sections (EWS).
During the Sheila Dikshit-led government, atleast there were 35 to 40 cases addressed everyday, said Deep Mathur, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former health minister A K Walia.
Similarly, home department, urban development, and social welfare department’s staffs are not ready to meet a public. Even urban and social welfare secretaries do not have time to meet the media. Not only the Secretariat, but the Divisional Commissioner offices, SDM offices and other nodal offices of Delhi government also do not address public grievances.
At the DC offices, people are found running from pillar to post for their work. ‘Due to the President’s rule in Delhi our repeated requests to the bureaucrats goes unheard. If they do not listen to the elected representatives, how can we expect them to run a public grievance system? People are always after local MLAs to resolve their issues and problems but we are in such a situation that we cannot do anything,’ said a senior Congress MLA.
There will be action regarding these complainants only after an elected government comes to power in the national Capital.
The reception area of Delhi Secretariat wears a deserted look. Though, the officials claim that the Chief Minister’s Public Grievance system is working properly and is on track, in reality, hardly anyone can be spotted at the windows of the grievance cell.
In his attempt to streamline the functioning of the government and make it citizen-friendly, Jung had repeatedly directed all the principal secretaries, secretaries and HoDs to be available in their offices from 11 am to 1 pm everyday except on Wednesdays to meet the public and listen to their grievances for speedy redressal. Even the Chief Secretary had issued several circulars in this regard but officials of some of the departments did not pay any heed and doesn’t have time for public hearing.
An official posted at the reception of the Delhi Secretariat, on condition of anonymity said: ‘There was a time when all five reception counters were generating 250-300 passes a day. But now, hardly 10-20 passes are being generated daily.’ Delhi Health Principal Secretary is in an ever-denial mode and is very reluctant to meet those who come for solutions regarding chronic diseases like cancer’s chemo therapy, kidney failures and heart ailments belonging to the Economic Weaker Sections (EWS).
During the Sheila Dikshit-led government, atleast there were 35 to 40 cases addressed everyday, said Deep Mathur, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former health minister A K Walia.
Similarly, home department, urban development, and social welfare department’s staffs are not ready to meet a public. Even urban and social welfare secretaries do not have time to meet the media. Not only the Secretariat, but the Divisional Commissioner offices, SDM offices and other nodal offices of Delhi government also do not address public grievances.
At the DC offices, people are found running from pillar to post for their work. ‘Due to the President’s rule in Delhi our repeated requests to the bureaucrats goes unheard. If they do not listen to the elected representatives, how can we expect them to run a public grievance system? People are always after local MLAs to resolve their issues and problems but we are in such a situation that we cannot do anything,’ said a senior Congress MLA.
There will be action regarding these complainants only after an elected government comes to power in the national Capital.
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