Do you have a civic complaint to lodge? Apart from calling the Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) control room numbers, you now have the option of sending your complaints through various online tools including popular social media applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
The MCC, which had introduced a toll-free complaint management system in January this year, has discontinued the system after the State government rolled out Janahitha – a public grievance redressal system through its Municipal Reforms Cell (MRC).
N. Raju, Additional Commissioner, MCC, told The Hindu that the citizens can now make use of the Janahitha services, which are managed by a centralised cell set up in Bengaluru to co-ordinate the complaints received from all the urban local bodies in the State. The complaints are forwarded to the concerned officials. “The complaints received in our control room too are forwarded to the cell in Bengaluru,” he said.
When the grievances are sent directly to Janahitha, Mr. Raju said they are monitored by the cell in Bengaluru, which follows it up with the concerned officials till the complaint is closed.
Photos and videosThe online tools afford the complainants an option to also send photos and videos, an MCC official said. “The complainants are expected to send relevant details such as the location, ward, etc. However, even if the details are missing, the personnel in the cell will seek the required details from the complainant,” the official added.
The status of the registered complaint is sent to the complainant through SMS. The complaints are first transferred to the nodal officer, but if not resolved within a reasonable time, they will be escalated to the superior officer.
Lack of awarenessSpeaking to The Hindu, C.G. Betsurmath, former Commissioner of MCC, claimed that the Janahitha services had been rolled out four months ago. Though Mr. Raju claimed that a total of 3,477 complaints had been received by the MCC since then and 3,358 of them had been resolved, MCC officials say that very few people were using the online tools offered by Janahitha to lodge complaints owing to poor awareness. Most of the complaints are still being received through the MCC’s control room phone numbers or through officials and public representatives.
