PM gets complaints against customs and excise officers; asks for strict action against erring bureaucrats

IN AN aggressive stand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday ordered strict action against officers who fail to redress public grievances of people. During the ninth interaction with secretaries through PRAGATI —multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, PM went to the extent of saying that options could include even dismissal of officers, according to reports. The complaints that PM had received were mainly related officers belonging to customs and excise sector, as he reviewed…

More grievances in vernacular languages? Govt is willing to engage translators

HIT by an ever growing number of grievances written in vernacular languages, the government has decided to create a panel of translators to decipher what are those, and who those are directed against. And the department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) that has taken the lead in this regard, says it would allow government employees to get empanelled and earn some pocket money. But the payment is…

Govt cautions officers, clerks airing their grievances directly to PM, ministers

IN THIS age of protests, emboldened government employees have begun to junk prescribed norms and write directly to ministers and even the Prime Minister if they are unhappy with their promotions and other service matters. Finding this trend highly awkward and unacceptable, the DoPT has dug out a…

Ministries told to redress grievances of citizens within 2 months

OFFICIALS will no longer be able to sit over files comprising complaints and grievances of aam aadmi after the government issued directions to all ministries and departments to redress grievances of the citizens within a period of two months. Also, with the introduction of a Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), citizens will be able to view the status of his complaint on the web, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. During the last three and half years (up to June 30, 2009), the total number of cases of public grievance received in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was 109620. For cabinet secretariat, the number for the same period was 101995, the minister informed the Parliament. Steps to weed out corruption in corridors The government has taken up a few steps to implement its policy of “Zero Tolerance against Corruption”. These include: 1) Issue of Whistle Blowers Resolution, 2004 2) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005 3) The pro-active involvement of ministry/department through Annual Action Plan on Vigilance as a preventive measures 4) Issues of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering & contracting process by the CVC 5) Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems 6) Issue of Citizen Charters.