Dehradun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday directed officials to ensure that complaints received through CM Helpline 1905 are resolved promptly, within the prescribed timelines and, most importantly, to the satisfaction of the complainant. He warned that grievances should not be treated as resolved merely by formally closing them on the portal, stressing that the actual problem faced by the citizen must be addressed.
Reviewing the functioning of CM Helpline 1905 at the Secretariat, Dhami said the helpline was an important interface between the government and citizens and its effectiveness would ultimately be judged by whether people actually received relief.
“Closing a complaint on the portal cannot be the objective. The actual resolution of the complainant’s problem must be ensured,” he directed.
Districts told to identify recurring complaints
Dhami instructed district magistrates to examine the nature of complaints being received most frequently in their respective districts and conduct department-wise reviews.
He said authorities should not only resolve individual complaints but also identify why similar grievances are repeatedly being generated. Departments were asked to take corrective measures and work towards permanent solutions wherever recurring problems are identified.
The chief minister directed district magistrates to regularly monitor such complaints and ensure that field-level officials address the underlying causes rather than repeatedly dealing with the same issue.
Surprise inspections of tehsils ordered
Dhami also directed all district magistrates to conduct surprise inspections of tehsils, with particular emphasis on revenue-related public services.
During the inspections, officials will have to verify whether mutation (dakhil-kharij) cases are being disposed of within the prescribed time limit. The chief minister directed that complaints relating to land fraud be treated as a priority.
He said citizens should not be forced to make repeated trips to government offices for routine revenue services and that notified services must be delivered within the stipulated timelines.
15-day audit of water and sewerage lines
Access to clean drinking water also figured prominently in the review. Dhami directed officials to accord the issue top priority and complete an audit of drinking water pipelines and sewer lines within 15 days.
He called for timely resolution of disruptions in water supply, leakages and other infrastructure-related problems. Officials were directed to use the audit to identify vulnerable stretches and address deficiencies before they translate into recurring public complaints.
Over 30-day-old complaints to get special attention
The chief minister directed secretaries, heads of departments and district magistrates to regularly review complaints that have remained pending for more than 30 days.
He said responsibility should be fixed in cases where complaints are not disposed of within the prescribed timeframe without valid reasons.
Particular attention was also drawn to grievances pending for prolonged periods. During the meeting, a department-wise status of complaints pending for more than 180 days was presented.
Dhami directed departments to monitor such cases regularly and examine the reasons for their prolonged pendency.
No arbitrary ‘special close’ or ‘force close’
The chief minister made it clear that complaints should not be unnecessarily marked as ‘special close’ or ‘force close’.
He stressed that complainant satisfaction must be given due importance and that a complaint should be closed only after the required action has actually been taken at the appropriate level.
The feedback mechanism on CM Helpline was also reviewed. Dhami directed officials to make the feedback system more effective and use responses from complainants to assess the quality of grievance redressal.
The portal already provides for citizen feedback and monitoring of action taken by departments and designated nodal officers, officials said.
Good performers to be rewarded, negligence to invite accountability
Dhami directed the administration to recognise and encourage officers and employees who perform well in resolving public grievances.
At the same time, he said officials responsible for unnecessary delays, negligence or inadequate disposal of complaints should be held accountable.
He said the fundamental purpose of CM Helpline 1905 was to establish an effective channel of communication between the government and citizens and ensure real, time-bound and satisfactory resolution of public grievances.
CM speaks directly to complainants
During the review, Dhami personally spoke to several complainants over the telephone to verify whether their grievances had actually been resolved.
In one case involving a complaint that had been closed inappropriately, he spoke to Sanjay Kumar Rawat, who said medical reimbursement bills relating to the treatment of his late father were still unpaid.
Taking note of the sensitive nature of the matter, Dhami directed the concerned officials to take immediate action and ensure payment of the pending medical reimbursement. He said people should not be made to suffer unnecessarily in such sensitive cases and warned that accountability would be fixed if similar complaints were found to have been improperly handled in future.
Widow pension complaint reviewed
The chief minister also spoke to Baby Kotnala of Pauri Garhwal regarding her complaint related to parityakta pension. She informed him that despite lodging the complaint a long time ago, the issue had remained unresolved.
Dhami directed the Pauri Garhwal district magistrate to take immediate appropriate action and ensure resolution of the matter.
Three-month-old water supply issue flagged
Speaking to Geeta, a resident of Haridwar, Dhami was informed that a water tank had been constructed near her house around three months earlier but water supply had not yet commenced.
The chief minister directed the Chief Development Officer, Haridwar, to visit the site, inspect the situation and ensure that drinking water supply was started immediately.
Citizens report successful resolution of complaints
During the review, some complainants also confirmed that their grievances had been resolved.
Shilpi Saxena of Dehradun told the chief minister that after she lodged a complaint regarding a streetlight through CM Helpline, the streetlight was installed in her area within the prescribed timeframe. She thanked the chief minister for ensuring resolution of the problem.
Similarly, Ayush Bisht of Almora informed Dhami that his scholarship-related complaint had been resolved by the concerned department.
The chief minister, however, directed officials to examine the reasons for the delay in disbursing the scholarship and stressed that students should receive benefits under government schemes within the stipulated timeframe.
Focus shifts from disposal figures to actual citizen relief
The review meeting indicated a clear emphasis on moving grievance redressal beyond portal-based disposal figures to actual outcomes on the ground.
Dhami directed officials at every level to ensure that a complaint is not simply marked as resolved but is followed through until the citizen receives the intended relief.
Principal Secretary R K Sudhanshu, L Phanai and Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Shailesh Bagauli, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Director General of Police Deepam Seth, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF) Kapil Lal, other secretaries and heads of departments attended the meeting.
All district magistrates participated through video conferencing.