Indian Express 15.06.2010
Complaints never go past MC complaint centre
Khushboo Sandhu Tags : Municipal Corporation, Anu Chatrath Posted: Tue Jun 15 2010, 05:26 hrs
Chandigarh: The complaint centre of the Municipal Corporation lacks a system to register complaints and is in urgent need of revamp. Also, it does not have any redressal mechanism or even a dedicated room.These are some of the observations of a three-member committee constituted by Mayor Anu Chatrath to look into the functioning of the centre.
In a report submitted to the Mayor, the committee has said that calls made to the helpline number remained unattended. The committee was headed by councillor M P S Chawla.
The report states that a munshi has been assigned the task of recording complaints, but he did not even have a register. Also, complaints were not being forwarded to the officials concerned.
The issue of a non-functioning complaint centre has been raised several times in the House meetings. Last week, the Mayor had constituted a three-member committee to suggest ways to improve its functioning.
“We found that the complaint centre was in a pathetic shape. We have suggested that a toll-free number be assigned and a list of officials be made available,” Chawla said. “As soon as a complaint is received, officials should be informed through SMS. Also, the toll-free number should be adequately publicised.”
Other recommendations include outsourcing the complaint centre and making it function round-the-clock.
“We have proposed that the centre be privatised. The proposal will be tabled in the next Finance and Contract Committee Meeting,” Chatrath said.
