Union Govt Issues Comprehensive Guidelines for Public Grievance Redressal

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 26th August. The Union Government has issued a new set of Comprehensive Guidelines for Handling Public Grievances, following the Prime Minister’s directives to make grievance redressal more time-bound, accessible, and effective. The “Guidelines for Effective Redressal of Public Grievances” aim to empower citizens, streamline processes, and bring greater clarity to the grievance redressal system.

Key Highlights:
Integrated Grievance Filing Platform:
A user-friendly, integrated platform for grievance filing, with the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) at www.pgportal.gov.in as the common platform. This will offer a single-window experience for citizens to register their grievances.

Appointment of Nodal Officers:
Every Ministry and Department will appoint Nodal Officers dedicated to addressing public grievances promptly, fairly, and efficiently. Ministries with high grievance loads will have specialized Nodal Officers.

Nodal Officer Responsibilities:
Nodal Officers will categorize grievances, monitor pendency, analyze feedback for policy improvements, conduct root cause analysis, compile monthly data, and oversee the work of Grievance Redressal Officers.

Dedicated Grievance Cells:
Every Ministry and Department will establish dedicated Grievance Cells, staffed with personnel knowledgeable about relevant schemes and activities.

Reduced Timelines:
The timeframe for grievance redressal has been reduced to 21 days. In cases where longer time is required, an interim reply will be provided to the citizen.

Escalation Process:
An escalation mechanism has been established with the appointment of appellate officers and sub-nodal appellate officers to handle grievances in Ministries and Departments.

Whole of Government Approach:
Grievance redressal will be conducted with a comprehensive government approach, with action reports filed on CPGRAMS.

Feedback Mechanism:
Citizens will receive feedback on disposed grievances via SMS and email. A feedback call center will collect further feedback, and dissatisfied citizens can appeal to a higher authority.

AI-Powered Analysis:
Feedback from citizens will be analyzed using AI-powered tools like the tree dashboard and the intelligent grievance monitoring dashboard.

Grievance Redressal Index:
A grievance redressal assessment index will rank Ministries and Departments on a monthly basis.

Training and Capacity Building:
Grievance officers will receive training on CPGRAMS through the 36 Administrative Training Institutes across States and Union Territories under the SEVOTTAM scheme.

Periodic Reviews:
Senior officers in Ministries and Departments are encouraged to periodically review grievance redressal and ensure effective communication of the systems to all stakeholders.

The 2024 policy guidelines reaffirm the government’s commitment to effective grievance redressal, incorporating technological advancements through a 10-step reform process. Since 2022, the CPGRAMS portal has addressed nearly 60 lakh public grievances, involving over 1.01 lakh Grievance Redressal Officers across Ministries, Departments, States, and Union Territories.