Though crisis of governance is one of the main challenges the governor N N Vohra and his team of three advisors are facing in Jammu & Kashmir these days but none else than the advisors themselves are responsible for further ailing the system of public system of grievances in the state. Travelling to Jammu the winter capital of the state and district headquarters in all the three regions of the state to hear the grievances of the people in long queues is a conventional method of public grievance pursued even by the elected chief ministers and ministers of the popular governments in Jammu & Kashmir state. Like the elected chief ministers and ministers the advisors of governor presently tasked the job of overseeing the working of the government and advising the governor properly on issues concerning public grievances too are pursuing the old conventional methods of public grievances. It seem that advisors of government despite having decades of experience in dealing with the issues of public concern are like the elected people living in medieval ages as they don’t tend to use the digital ways of reaching out to people to known their grievances. While a public grievance cell is already working in the office of the governor the advisor of governor could open public grievance cells in all the departments lying under their control to reach out to people to know their grievances. Unfortunately advisors like the leaders of an elected government have started travelling to district headquarters in all the three regions of the state to meet people in long queues to known their grievances but in today’s digital world this method of public grievances is just an attempt to draw more travelling and dearness allowances by the advisors.
It is for the governor to oversee the working of his advisors in dealing with the public grievances and direct them to put into place a proper mechanism for establishing online public grievance cells in all the departments with a facility to general public to upload their grievances.
Such conventional methods of public grievance redressal don’t end up with the redressal of public grievances but instead generate more public anger against the government over the handling of public grievances. Establishing online public grievance cells with a facility to general public to upload their grievances is a proper method as the officials tasked the job of responding to public grievance within 24 hours can’t run away from the responsibility of replying to grievances of the general public properly well in time. It is for the governor to oversee the working of his advisors in dealing with the public grievances and direct them to put into place a proper mechanism for establishing online public grievance cells in all the departments with a facility to general public to upload their grievances.
