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General Administration

Civic body to receive citizen's plaints with professional help

Tuesday, 28 May 2013 11:46 administrator
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The Times of India            28.05.2013

Civic body to receive citizen's plaints with professional help

VADODARA: A polite voice saying 'How may I help you' may greet you the next time you make a call for making a complaint regarding a civic problem. Much like telecom operators or banks, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to start a helpline to address citizens' complaints by roping in a call centre with trained employees.

Much like other help lines, the VMC will have a dedicated complaint number with 10 lines so that multiple calls can be handled at the same time. The system will also shoot text messages and emails to officials who have the responsibility of attending to the problem. Immediate seniors of the officer will also be given alerts regarding the issue.

Besides the SMS and email, the officers will also have access to the module on their computers and they can access details of complaints pertaining to their functions or jurisdiction. "Once the complaint is resolved, the citizen will also get a message regarding it," said VMC director (projects) C M Makwana.

The new system will also ensure that the officials remain on their toes. The system has a provision for escalation of the alert in the VMC hierarchy in the problem is not resolved within a stipulated period of time. If a complaint is not taken care of, the system will shoot messages and mails to higher officials. Like the once in the lower rungs, the senior officials will also be able to monitor complaints online on their systems.

VMC director (IT) Manish Bhatt said that once implemented the system will ensure that citizens do not have to go to the ward office for their complaints. "The system will also have a provision where the complaints can be made on the website online by those who use internet. It is an attempt to bring in professionalism in the functioning of the civic body and to become citizen friendly," he added.

The employees of the agency that has been given the contract for the system have been trained keeping in mind the civic body's functioning. They have been given in depth knowledge about the organisation structure and functions in the civic body. The system is likely to be formally launched in about a week's time and testing has already been done. The contact details will formally be announced at the time of the launch.

 

'Publish reports on waste management on website'

Tuesday, 28 May 2013 09:32 administrator
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The New Indian Express           28.05.2013

'Publish reports on waste management on website'

The High Court on Monday directed the BBMP to publish the reports prepared by the BBMP Expert Committee and Technical Committee on solid waste management on its website and invite objections from the public before making rules to implement solid waste management effectively.

The court said suggestions can be sent directly to the BBMP through either through email or file them before the court during the next hearing of a bunch of public interest litigations (on June 28) filed seeking an efficient solid waste management system in the city.

A division bench consisting of Justice N Kumar and Justice B V Nagarathna also directed the State government to place the details on the orders passed by the court in related cases and the action taken by it based on them before the next hearing.

The court also directed the government to frame rules to regulate the construction waste and make provisions to impose hefty fines against those who violate the rules.

Asking the BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah, who is set to retire by the end of this month, to assist the court in dealing with the cases related to the solid waste management, the bench observed,

“Siddaiah has been efficient in implementing the orders of the court and forthright in making his submissions before the court. Even the petitioners want him to continue as the commissioner till the issue is resolved”.

The court also directed the BBMP’s Special Committee for Solid Waste Management to continue to assist the court even after Siddaiah demits office as the BBMP Commissioner. It also asked Siddaiah to make suggestions to deal with issues that have not been dealt with in both the mentioned reports.

The court directed the petitioners to implead bulk generators like hoteliers, contractors, builders, industrialists etc through their respective associations to enable the court to pass the orders in the case after hearing all the stakeholders. 

During the course of the hearing, the court observed, “There should be no discrimination against the rich or poor while dealing with waste. After all waste is a waste. People who litter or dump construction waste indiscriminately should be severely dealt with. A fine of `5,000 should be imposed for the first violation and the subsequent violation should attract a fine of `10,000. Provisions should also be made to cut off the water and electricity connections and to cancel the licences of the repeated offenders.”

 

IMC squad demolishes 11 illegal shops at Palasia

Tuesday, 28 May 2013 07:02 administrator
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The Pioneer               28.05.2013

IMC squad demolishes 11 illegal shops at Palasia

In a move being awaited since long, the demolition squad of Indore Municipal Corporationon (IMC) on Monday demolished illegal construction of 11 shops at Palasia left turn to pave way for the widening of road.

Accompanied by police force, the demolition squad led by senior administrative officers Rajnish Kasera, tehsildar Bihari Singh, city engineer Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Chouhan and Virendra Upadhyaya reached along with the JCB machine at the Palasia square early morning on Monday. At around 7.05 am on Monday, the demolition squad started bulldozing illegal structures.

Though few of the affected shop owners including proprietor of  Bombay Tyre House Ustan Bhai resisted IMC move by showing a copy of the status quo order of the High Court, the IMC officers did not pay any heed to his plea and continued with the demolition works. Besides Bombay Tyre House, the shops whose illegal structures were demolished included  Sharma Paan, Atithi Bhojnalay, Sadhna Juice Centre, Kunal Newspaper Agency, Dr Jawed Sheikh’s clinin and Shreekripa Hotel respectively. The demolition works yielded as many as 30 trucks of roubles and the same were transported to Kabirkheri trenching ground.

As many as three bulldozers, seven dumpers  and over 40 employees had been pressured into service during the demolition works. To facilitate smooth demolition works and avoid traffic bottlenecks in the area, the administration had put up barricades near the Ghantagar on the MG Road so as to divert movement of vehicles coming from the Regal square.

The shop owners whose illegal structures were demolished did try to put up resistance in the demolition works by showing the officials court stay order, the officials present there hardly paid any heed to the stay orders and carried out the demolition works till all the illegal construction of nine shops were bulldozed.

 
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