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The Public Services and Grievance Redressal Division (PSGRD) under Cabinet Secretariat has received 61 applications and responded to about 40 applications received so far. Other remaining applications are being assessed for similar actions.
Of this the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) and Ministry of Education (MoE) tops the grievances received till date. Both the Ministries have 15 each grievance received at PSGRD office.
“15 grievances received for MoEA is mainly due to the introduction of POL mCoupon app. Most of the applications were enquiries related to the usage of mobile app,” PSGRD stated.
Likewise, 15 grievances received in MoE, were after the declaration of Class X and XII result. Many students start enquiring about the results, clerical re-checks and online scholarship applications, says the PM’s office. This is also because G2C offers the same services under the educational services section on its website.
About Thimphu Thromde, PSGRD office received 6 grievances till data, regarding Water shortage, footpath and toilets. “For all complaints received, the Prime Minister’s office would set a time period within which the complaint related to a ministry would needs to be resolved.”
Other Ministries are MoHCA (4), MoLHR (7), MoFA(3) MoWHS (5), MoIC (1) and MoH (1) till date. Agencies like BT connectivity, Bank and land-related grievances received one complaint each.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, upon receipt of the applications, PSGRD assesses the grievances. Those that are straightforward are resolved without having to be forwarded to the concerned agency. “If it requires intervention from the concerned agency, especially those related to policy matters, the applications are forwarded to the concerned agency for action.”
Although the system currently captures only the ten Ministries, applicants had submitted grievances on issues such as connectivity, land, and Thromde services.
The Prime Minister’s office stated that even for these categories of submissions, similar actions are accorded in consultation with the respective agencies. For example, two of the Thromde-related concerns were redirected to the Thromde online grievance cell and when PSGRD tracked the cases, Thromde had already attended to them.
“Mandatory features such as submission of contact details have enabled two-way communication, allowing the office to reach back to the applicant for additional details. However, some of the applications are pending for action, owing to non-responsive applicants who do not either respond to the calls or the emails when contacted for additional information,” the Prime Minister’s office stated.
“Given the proliferating ability of the system, PSGRD intends to be sensitive to all the agencies in addition to the ten ministries and seek collaboration to strengthen the grievance component of the Public Service Delivery (PSD) initiative.”
With the objective to streamline the grievance component PSD Initiative, the online grievance redressal system – eKaasel was rolled out effectively from last year.
The eKaasel system has proved to provide a platform for citizens to submit feedback and grievances on the different aspects of public services, ranging from policy-related concerns to service specific issues.
