News: Gurugram: GMDA developing single-window online platform to address public grievances-21-09-2020
https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurugram/gurugram-gmda-developing-single-window-online-platform-to-address-public-grievances/story-AuHLQVrQ4G9dFJWGL43ayM.html
The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is developing a website, which will serve as a single-window, online platform for residents to lodge complaints against various public bodies operating in the city and track the status of their grievances, said officials on Sunday.
The platform will enable people to lodge complaints either against a single civic body or multiple ones — such as the GMDA, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), the Gurugram district administration, the Public Works Department (PWD), Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) — via a single window, said GMDA officials.
GMDA officials added that even the complaints that are received through emails, the CM window, toll-free numbers, social media and various mobile applications will be synched with the platform. This will allow people to register their feedback once all formalities are completed, said officials.
VS Kundu, chief executive officer (CEO) of GMDA, said that such a platform will increase the accountability of public bodies. Such bodies can no longer deflect the responsibility of completing the work.Consequently, this will also prevent delays in taking action.
“The development of this platform is our top priority. We have realised that there is a lot of public dissatisfaction as many offices are not responding to grievances of residents properly, including the GMDA itself. We don’t have a responsive public grievances redressal system in place. Hence, we are developing a platform, which will put all the government offices falling within the GMDA area under one single window. This will also ensure a two-way communication between authorities and residents,” said Kundu.
Kundu further said that a single-window platform will also solve the issues pertaining to overlapping jurisdiction between various public bodies.
“All complaints would be handled at a central level. A team of employees or outsourced workers would be forwarding the matters reported on the CM window, social media, customer care, or in writing, to the concerned public body. The status of matter would then be monitored online, and the complainant would also be kept in the loop. He or she will come to know which public body the complaint has been forwarded to and what is the current status of the complaint,” said Kundu.
Kundu said currently, GMDA is in the process of establishing a framework. “Once the framework is in place, technology will then be used for implementing the same. We are looking at various models, both globally and domestically, in regard to the redressal of public grievances. Simultaneously, we are also streamlining our processes internally. We are identifying the various public bodies than can be included on this platform, their areas of jurisdiction, and the type of issues they address,” said Kundu, adding that once the framework is in place, GMDA will take a call on whether they have the necessary expertise and resources to build the platform on their own or do they need to float tenders to hire an outsourced agency to build the platform.
Kundu said that as part of the Smart City project, a decision was taken in December last year for building a single-window platform, which can address all forms of public grievances. However, he said that work in this regard could not be initiated right away, and, as an interim measure, the call centre of the MCG was shifted to the GMDA office to address public grievances. However, this measure failed to “improve efficiency” of the public grievance system, he said.
“We realised that the call centre was not improving the situation in any way and that public dissatisfaction was still very much prevalent. Hence, we decided to start taking steps towards the formation of an online platform that will include all relevant public bodies of the city in one single window and would be able collate all forms of public grievances,” said Kundu.
Kundu said that using data analytics, the platform would be able to point out issues that are receiving the maximum number of complaints.This will prompt officials to come up with alternative measures to fix the problem.
“Under the existing system, there remains a possibility that a person at a call centre may not attend a complainant’s call or deflect the matter entirely. Hence, we want to reduce human intervention and maximise the use of technology. A voice bot or a chat bot can help address common issues, and, if the need arises, an operator can then take over the matter at any given stage.The operator can access the background details and the history of the complaint from the platform’s interface,” said Kundu.
Kundu also highlighted the fact that the platform would ensure complaints are not lost and help review and identify services or public bodies that are “less efficient” and, therefore, require greater monitoring.
