Grievances and governance at the grass roots attracting the attention Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is a good omen for the future of goodf governance in Kashmir but all depends on the implementation of the decisions taken by the Lieutenant Governor over grievances and governance. Lieutenant Governor asking Deputy Commissioners and district SPs to hold grievance camps at the district headquarters is a good idea and the exercise if pursued seriously would prove much better than the public grievance hearings conducted by the Lt Governor’s advisors in twin capital cities- Srinagar and Jammu. The Lt Governor and his advisors if interested in improving the system of grievances and governance will have to take monthly feedbacks on the grievances heard by the deputy commissioners and districts SPs and the follow up action taken by them on public grievances concerning execution of developmental projects and working of public institutions in the districts. The exercise if followed with a system of checks and balance won’t only be a better initiative than the public darbars at district headquarters usually held by the Chief Minister and the ministers in previous years or by the advisors of Lt Governor during last two years of direct central rule in Jammu & Kashmir. The conduct of public grievance camps by Lt Governor’s advisors at the district headquarters would always engage the entire district administration with the exercise and in the process the normal working of the government would cause more inconvenience than convenience to the people of the concerned districts. To further smoothen the process of accountability a monthly feedback from the deputy commissioners and district SPs to Lt Governor, his advisors, Chief Secretary and divisional commissioners of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions on public grievances has to be made a routine exercise as otherwise the initiative won’t bring any improvement in the grievance redressal mechanism announced by the Lieutenant Governor for Deputy Commissioners and district SPs. In fact even Tehsildars and SDPOs and BDOs and SHOs should also be directed to hold public grievance camps in their areas of jurisdiction to hear the grievance of the people atleast thrice in a month over both the progress on developmental projects and as well as the working of public institutions .
To further smoothen the process of accountability a monthly feed back from the deputy commissioners and district SPs to Lt Governor, his advisors, Chief Secretary and divisional commissioners of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions on public grievances has to be made a routine exercise as otherwise the initiative won’t bring any improvement in the grievance redressal mechanism announced by the Lieutenant Governor for Deputy Commissioners and district SPs.
Deputy Commissioners and district SPs could also be asked to get monthly feedbacks on public grievances from both the Tehsildars and SDPOs and BDOs and SHOs for onward submission to Lt Governor, his advisors, Chief Secretary and divisional commissioners of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions. Taking such measures for the purposes of improving the basic process of governance would ultimately lay the foundation for a strong public grievance redressal system in Jammu & Kashmir.
