Delhi govt tries new SOP to redress complainants

Under the SOP, departments have to appoint a joint director-rank officer in charge of grievances.

The Delhi government has drafted a standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure complaints received through its departments’ helplines are resolved in time and complainants are updated about its status regularly, said a senior government official.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (HT photo)

“Several departments of the Delhi government – such as environment, women and child development, social welfare and education – have telephone helplines. While there is a dedicated mobile application for pollution-related complaints, there was a need to streamline the mechanism of other helplines. That is why the new SOP has been drafted,” said the official who did not wish to be identified.“From this week, the SOP is being tried in the women and child development department It will help amend the SOP, if needed, before being adopted across other departments.”

Under the SOP, departments have to appoint a joint director-rank officer in charge of grievances. For every complaint received, a report has to be submitted to the officer within three days of receiving the complaint, following which the officer would set a deadline for resolution. It would even apply to complaints whose redressal needs involvement of multiple agencies. said the senior official.

From the third day of having received the complaint, the officers have to devise a mechanism to keep the complainant updated about its status from time to time. Departments will have to maintain electronic records of each complaint and complainant.

Delhi’s women and child development minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said: “Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has clearly stated that all complaints and grievances across all departments have to be resolved in a time bound manner. If officers fail to do so, they shall have to explain why. We have streamlined the grievance redressal mechanism keeping that in mind. The idea is to ensure better governance.”