Karnataka   

Infusing life into a grievance redressal meet

Lending an ear: Deputy Commissioner F.R. Jamadar listening to the grievances of an elderly person at public grievances redressal meet in Kolar.

KOLAR: “Disburse the compensation without delay to this aged man before he dies. Demolish encroachments without mercy such that it serves as warning in the future to others who encroach upon government property.”

These were some of the orders passed by Deputy Commissioner F.R. Jamadar at a grievance redressal meeting organised on the premises of the Deputy Commissioner’s office a couple of days ago.

Unlike in the past, where such meets were mere a formality and drab, the meet conducted by Mr. Jamadar was marked by humanistic approach. Humour too was evident there. Breaking the shackles of bureaucracy, Mr. Jamadar made both officers and public burst into laughter through his witty comments.

When 70-year-old Dyaveerappa of Vadagur village in Kolar taluk pleaded before the Deputy Commissioner to provide compensation for him for the land acquired by the government, Mr. Jamadar directed the Assistant Commissioner M.S. Archana to make an on-the-spot survey and provide the compensation amount.

Apart from providing a chair to Mr. Dyaveerappa to sit, a visibly moved Jamadar asked the office staff to make proper arrangements to keep the bit-to-bit documents maintained by the elderly man.

On receiving complaints from the public about encroachment of government lands and construction of unauthorised buildings in the town, Mr. Jamadar instructed City Municipal Council Commissioner M. Ramachandra to demolish such constructions and evict the encroachers within a time-frame.

Mr. Jamadar, who is holding the additional charge as Deputy Commissioner along with zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer, expressed shock over encroachments of tanks in the district. “Though at present it might not be possible to evict all, the government must know the extent of encroachment,” he said and ordered officials to undertake a survey in this regard.

By addressing Dyaveerappa as “Ajja” (grandfather), Mr. Jamadar won the hearts of public. But at the same time, he even did not hesitate to admonish the impertinent public during the process.

While suggesting the solutions to the various public and individual problems, Mr. Jamadar tried to find out the reasons as to why the people approach highest echelons of administration including Ministers with complaints. “When the officials concerned and staff does not attend to the work properly and make the people exhaust, they will come to the Deputy Commissioners and Ministers. Government employees are meant to help public, not to pester them,” he said.

“I might not continue as Deputy Commissioner. But I will certainly pursue some cases and help people such as Dyaveerappa in my capacity as zilla panchayat CEO,” Mr. Jamadar promised.

With all such gestures and moves, Mr. Jamadar infused liveliness to the otherwise dull and drab routine process of receiving applications from public.

“Such steps set a model in providing responsive administration,” Narayanappa, a retired teacher present at the meet said. “Incumbents and officers in other parts of the State need to emulate this,” he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Karnataka withdraws order on puja for ‘Lokakalyana’
Rubber bullets to quell farmers’ agitations
Normality returns to Haveri
Plan for emergency medical services in State
Did fear of scarcity lead to violence in Haveri?
Praise for director
‘Child labour offshoot of poverty’
String of protests against police firing in Haveri
Infusing life into a grievance redressal meet
To make a difference
‘Yeddyurappa must resign’
Farmers complain of harassment
Chief Minister could have averted Haveri incident: CPI leader

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu