Starting from June 1, the people of Delhi will be able to walk into the offices of Delhi government officials and the Ministers. The time allocated to meet the officials is between 10 A.M. and 11 A.M. every weekday. There is no requirement to get a prior appointment to air the grievances.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered the Chief Secretary to instruct all the officials to notify them to be present at their desks from 10 A.M. to 11 A.M. every weekday to meet the public. Some of the officials like doctors and teachers are excluded from meeting the public.
Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia said that while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Ministers, including Mr. Kejriwal, were already taking the time to meet the public, there are a lot of complaints of officials being inaccessible. He said that there had been a “disconnect from the public”.
In his instruction to the Chief Secretary, Mr. Kejriwal wrote: “I have received several complaints from the public that officers are not easily accessible for redressal of their grievances.”
The CM said that officials are not supposed to plan anything at the time meant for the public.
Mr. Kejriwal also asked the Chief Secretary to set up a helpline where people would be able to file a complaint if in case any officer was not available.
The CM also mentioned that a log must be maintained to have the process transparent by knowing what the complaint was, what action was taken and who the officer met.
Mr. Sisodia said that the details of the program will be announced soon.
This is not the first time that the AAP government has taken an effort to create a formal platform to meet the public.
In 2015, after coming to power, the government had said that officials would meet the public from noon to 1 P.M., but the implementation of the initiative failed.
