Jan Samvad Kendra has started making an impact on the far flung districts of the State making officials to come into action soon after a complaint is lodged with them. Taking an initiative to bridge the gap between the common man and the Government Chief Minister Raghubar Das had launched the call center on May 1 with 30 staff in it to attend the calls.
“On an average, at least 200 complaints are being received here per day which are being taken up for redressal. People sitting here at the call center hear the problems from the callers and forward them to the concerned DCs,” said Director of Public Relation Department Awdhesh Kumar Pandey.
A Nodal Officer appointed for the center also asserted that the initiative taken up by the CM has started making positive impact. “We are getting a good response both from the people as well as from the government officials. Once a call is made from here the problem is being sorted out soon by the concerned authorities,” said an ex-Nodal Officer for Jan Samvad Kendra Urvashi Pandey.
According to Pandey, primarily calls related to bad condition of roads, non functional tube-wells, non-availability of teachers and non-responsive policemen are being received at the call center. “Maximum number of complaints received so far comprises of the problem of non-functional tube-wells, which is being sorted out immediately in the wake of this scorching heat across the state,” said Panday.
In order to make it more effective, rather than waiting for the people to call them, tele-callers of Jan Samvad Kendra themselves are calling to the Sahiyas and Panchayat representatives, asking them about the problems related to their areas.
“After preparing a database of the Sahiyas and Panchayat representatives, we start calling them up asking about the problems related to their areas. Most of them came up with the problems regarding non-functional tube-wells and bad condition of roads in their areas. Once we receive the complaint, 2-3 rounds of call are made from here to the concerned officials of the area. But surprisingly, the problem is being solved immediately when we call them again for the second or third time,” said the Nodal Officer.
If the call centre does not get any response even after second and third calls, the matter is the forwarded to Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district, Secretary of the concerned department and finally to the Chief Minister to look into the matter.
The complaints, according to Pandey, have been divided into two categories – urgent and moderate. Former is to be solved within one day while the latter is given one week’s time to get them solved, failing they are referred forward to the higher officials.
“The problems could not be solved even at the secretary level would be referred to the Chief Minister to be taken up by him on every last Tuesday of a month while doing ‘seedhi baat’ with the complainant and hearing their problems,” Pandey said.
The call centre—with Toll-free number 181, comprises of a total of 26 callers, 6 IT experts and one Information Analyst, who forward the problem further to the higher level after reviewing it properly. The callers note down complaints from across the state between 9am and 5pm on week days.