No more queues; collectorate to launch grievance helpline

You will soon be able to call a toll-free helpline to register any complaint related to the revenue department be it about property card (land ownership) details, dispute over open spaces and leasehold plots, or to make queries on how to get your requisite certificates.

You will soon be able to call a toll-free helpline to register any complaint related to the revenue department be it about property card (land ownership) details, dispute over open spaces and leasehold plots, or to make queries on how to get your requisite certificates.

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Dubbed as ‘e-Lokshahi’, the reforms will be rolled out in all 33 districts, including Mumbai city and suburbs, by 2013.

State revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat on Monday announced this reform along with a host of other initiatives that will be introduced next year as part of the Suvarna Jayanti Rajaswa Abhiyan, which is aimed at making administration more transparent and accessible to citizens.

This initiative was first introduced in Aurangabad by the district collector and has proved to be useful to many citizens.

“The complaint redressal system will be open 24/7 and introduced in all 33 districts. It will help reduce the hardship of the citizens, who have to otherwise run from pillar to post to register a complaint. The system will forward the complaint to the officer concerned, who will have to address it within specific time limit,” said Thorat.

“If the immediate officer does not address the complaint, the software will forward it to the collector, who will have to sort out the issue and get back to the complainant. The toll-free number will also give out most sought out information from the collectorate,” said Swadhin Kshatriya, additional chief secretary, revenue.

Every complainant availing the service, will also be given a token number to trace the progress of his or her complaint.

Other reforms include handing out of requisite certificates such as domicile, caste in schools.

Thorat also announced that starting this year, youngsters from Maharashtra, who have completed their education in the state and have a school-leaving certificate attesting their year of birth, will not require a separate domicile certificate.

In the past one year, the department has handed out 40 lakh different certificates through its workshops and updated 8 lakh 7/12 land extracts and deposed 65,000 pending appeals.