Government of India in recent past has focussed on reforming the public grievance redressal mechanisms, however their effectiveness remains limited. Discuss.
The Public grievance redressal mechanisms are the methods and/or mechanisms under which the grievances of an aggrieved citizen are solved in a time bound manner.
Reforms done by the government:
- CPGRAMS
- Citizen’s charter
- Sevottam model
- Fast track courts
- E-governance
- Appointment of the staff on vacant positions
Reasons behind limited effectiveness of reforms:
- Limited awareness among the people about these reforms.
- No transparency and accountability. Thus the progress of reforms and their performance are not checked.
- Huge number of complaints and overburdening of the grievance redressal mechanisms.
- Vacant posts and slow rate of appointment of officers and support staff.
- Bureaucracy is also averse to reforms as it changes the status quo.
- Still reliance on paper complaints and lack of digitization.
- Further lack of adequate devolution of powers.
To make governance effective and efficient, a proper grievance audit result system is vital.
Topics: GS-II: Constitutional Statutory Regulatory and Quasi Judicial Bodies • GS-II: Important Aspects of Governance Transparency and Accountability Citizen Charters