District authorities of South 24-Parganas have launched a programme named Janasanjog where top district officials starting from the district magistrate to block development officers will hold camps to hear out rural people’s grievances as a part of an attempt to facilitate communication between the citizens and the administration.
The move, sources said, is significant as unrest over non-payment of wages under the 100 days’ job scheme is growing in the rural areas ahead of the panchayat polls next year.
“The camps are being held in each block of the district where senior government officials will be present to hear complaints of common citizens. Those grievances that can be solved without delay will be addressed immediately,” said a senior official in the district.
The initiative, senior government officials feel, will help the ruling establishment redress the grievances of people directly.
“Now, officials will get to know what is ailing the rural populace. Stress is being laid on the rural populace because people living in the urban areas have options to register their grievances,” said a senior official.
Speaking to The Telegraph, South 24-Parganas district magistrate P. Ulaganathan said: “At Duare Sarkar (camps) we receive application forms from people to avail of certain services through a process. We have found many people who alleged that their grievances have not been solved even after attending three Duare Sarkar camps. We have found cases that remained unresolved over trivial issues and lack of initiative by the officials authorised for the job.”
A major issue is lack of wages under the 100 days’ job scheme since December last year as the Centre did not approve the additional 3 crore man-days generated by the state after the Centre’s approved labour budget of 27 crore man-days was exhausted last November owing to heavy demand for jobs.
“Officials can explain to people why wages are getting delayed. This will help the ruling establishments to shift the onus on Delhi,” said a source.
Similarly, people have grievances that Swasthya Sathi cards are not accepted by some private healthcare establishments. The authorities can identify the private hospitals and initiate action against such hospitals based on the complaints, said an official.
Senior officials in the administration said that the camps will help the top brass of the district authorities to get to know the real picture at the grassroots level.
“It has often been noticed that several reports sent from the block level to the district level are far from reality… Senior district officials will be able to hear problems from the villagers directly in these camps,” said a bureaucrat.
Many in the administration compared the exercise with Didi Ke Bolo launched soon after the ruling party faced a debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where the BJP wrested 18 seats.
“The way Trinamul bounced back with a thumping win in the 2021 Assembly polls, it was clear that the Didi Ke Bolo programme had played a crucial role in restoring the lost support base of the ruling party,” said a bureaucrat.
A senior Trinamul leader said that the camps will help them formulate their strategy ahead of the panchayat polls.
“If people of any panchayat area lodge complaints about the service delivery of the rural body, we have to ensure that existing panchayat functionaries don’t get tickets this time,” said the leader.
A senior Nabanna official praised the initiative of South 24-Parganas district authorities but added that it was yet to be decided whether the programme will be replicated in other districts.
