What exactly are the government officials doing?
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The Kerala state cabinet's Nava Kerala Sadas caravan has already crossed 10 districts and more than 90 constituencies in its public outreach drive. It is estimated that so far more than four lakh complaints have been received from various districts during the travel. By the time the meeting ends in the capital city, the number of complaints will increase even more. Although the Chief Minister explains that the yatra is intended to bring various issues to the attention of the people and to seek their suggestions for the making of a Nava Kerala, the multitude of complaints show that the people see the meeting as an opportunity to resolve their grievances. Why there are so many grievances and complaints from people is a matter that needs to be seriously examined. None of these complaints is filed in this process for the first time. People, including the elderly, come to the audience with unsolved problems after going to and from the secretariat and village office. Many problems could have been solved if the officials had acted promptly and taken the necessary measures in time. The question of what the government officials who are supposed to find solutions to people's complaints and grievances are doing is very relevant at this stage. It is time to investigate what is happening in the government offices, including how much of the officials' productivity is being used, how complaints or files remain unresolved and whether there is a certain amount of time-line fixed for their resolution. The public has a right to a proper response and improved service because the majority of state revenue goes into supporting public officials.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had at the beginning of his first term reminded the secretariat staff that each file has a life behind it and hence it should be dealt with accordingly. He himself later admitted that he could not accomplish this properly. He made the point that some people are failing in this area and that everyone should assess whether he is carrying out his work in the proper manner. Complaints and grievances are bound to accumulate from the secretariat to the village offices if one is not prepared to evaluate the situation, fix the shortcomings, and move on. It is clear that most of the complaints are related to revenue, local and agriculture departments. From birth certificates to death certificates, one has to depend on such government systems at every stage of life. However, they are woefully behind in providing services. Officials should be able to provide service to the people to fulfil their needs as soon as possible. It should also be determined how many files are buried by the red tape.
It is imperative that the administrative procedure be expedited as soon as possible. Filing complaints would be in vain if the current government offices are not able to fulfil the same. The fact that the state's Right to Service Act went into effect over 12 years ago should also be considered in this process. Many services no longer require an in-person visit to the office because of the development of online facility. Nevertheless, it is evident from these thousands of complaints that much work remains to be done for the red tape to be fully untangled. The knot can only be undone if the officials also develop that mindset. The fact that bribes are the only way to obtain the required paperwork and authorization from government agencies worsens the situation. If the government is serious about making Kerala an investor/entrepreneur-friendly state, the first thing that needs to change is the bureaucracy in the offices. Officials also need to understand that protests and suicide attempts in government offices reflect anger towards the government system (though suicide is not a solution).
