J&K: Lt Guv launches revamped grievance redressal system for bureaucratic efficiency

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched the J&K Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (JK-IGRAMS) in a significant step towards making the existing grievance redress mechanism more robust and efficient.

The revamped system shall decentralize the handling and redressal of public grievances by making district collectors/deputy commissioners as the primary level of receiving, disposing, and monitoring grievances. As such, the existing portal has now been integrated downwards to the district level by mapping another nearly 1,500 public offices in 20 districts of the Union Territory.

From existing 250 to proposed 1,500 offices, which is the widest possible coverage that has been conceived and enabled in the online management of public grievances in J&K making it the first online grievance management system/portal in the country that is linked with the Central government (at the top) and districts and even further downwards to the tehsils and blocks (at the bottom). Besides, the administrative secretaries of various departments figuring in the middle of the flow-chain are also linked to the mechanism.

In addition to that, the new system would be available 24*7 with applicant OTP authentication, acknowledgment to the applicant at each stage, feedback by the complainant, and on top of that grievance submission through call center by making a phone call between 9.30 AM -5.30 PM on all days except Sunday.

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'People-centric good governance structure'

Speaking on the occasion, Manoj Sinha said that Government is committed to undertake all radical reforms to put in place a 'people-centric good governance structure' that has an institutionalized grievance redressal mechanism, which he observed as the most important component of a well-governed responsive administration and an indicator of efficiency and effectiveness of administrative processes.

Terming it as a step towards gaining the peoples’ trust, the Lt Governor remarked that an effective grievance redressal mechanism is the lifeblood of any Good Governance System and is the top priority for the government. A common citizen wants a sympathetic, courteous, responsive, and helpful administrative setup, he maintained.

The new system is being launched on pilot basis initially for three districts of Jammu, Srinagar, and Reasi and will gradually be rolled out in the remaining districts by or before 2 October 2020. It will replace the current Portal which was launched by the government in 2018.

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