Public complaints

Rural population might not be getting the facility of online PCP because of the unavailability of internet services

In order to further facilitate the public and speed up redressal of their grievances, the government plans to link up all complaint management systems of federal ministries with the Pakistan Citizen Portal. Prime Minister Imran Khan recently issued instructions in this regard. All existing 33 complaint cells of federal ministries will be connected with the centralised complaint system. The PM’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) will decide the modalities in consultation with relevant institutions and devise integration plans. The PMDU has been asked to complete the process within 60 days. The idea is to avoid delays resulting from a multiplicity of complaint cells and duplication of efforts thereby undertaking the process of complaint rectification on a fast track basis. This will also save time and resources. The purpose is to put in place a universal system with many-faceted connectivity features for a comprehensive global grievance redressal mechanism.

The centralised system will help citizens avoid confusion as now a number of complaint cells are functioning causing problems to both the people and government functionaries working for redressal of public grievances. The integrated system will help eliminate the delays involved in manual processing of complaints. It will bring the whole process of receipt, processing, and removal of complaints under one window, and help citizens get information about the status of their complaints and things related to them. The PCP started functioning as part of the PMDU from October 2018. During the past two years, as many as 28 million people have registered 115,000 complaints, on average, every month, with it. According to official figures, 2.2 million complaints have been resolved with 40% confirmed satisfaction. The rural population might not be getting the facility of the online PCP because of the unavailability of internet services in villages and small towns. This needs to be rectified.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2020.

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