Bhubaneswar: More than 5,000 people from across Odisha, including differently-abled persons, lined up on Monday before the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell to present their problems to newly elected Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
The Chief Minister started hearing public grievances at the CM’s Grievance Cell located at Unit-V in the city and said he would continue to listen to grievances from the general public every Monday.
Shri Majhi gave a patient hearing and listened to the problems faced by the common people.
Deputy Chief Minister K. V. Singh Deo and two Ministers were also present at the grievance cell when Shri Majhi personally listened to the various grievances of the people who had come from far-off places with petitions for redressal of their issues.
Shri Majhi revived the grievance redressal process, which had been stopped for nearly 16 years by the previous Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Briefing newsmen after attending to the grievances of the people, the Chief Minister said that as per his direction, the collectors of all 30 districts also started listening to the grievances of the people at the district level on Monday.
Stating that the grievance cell is important for resolving the problems of the people, the Chief Minister appealed to the public to follow the guidelines and meet the Collectors at the district level to apprise them of their problems so that the issues can be resolved.
Shri Majhi said the previous government had created a big iron wall between the government and the people, as a result of which the people were deprived of getting justice. This wall, he said, has been broken with the revival of the grievance cell.
The Chief Minister said his government’s priority is to listen to the problems of the people and resolve them, which can only be possible with the revival of the grievance cell that was closed by the previous government.
It is the responsibility of the government to know the problems being faced by the people and resolve these, he said, adding that members of the public put forward their individual problems as well as social issues before the government for resolution.
Noting that the public grievance hearing has also been resumed at the district level, the Chief Minister advised the people to first approach the authorities at the district level with their problems for quick redressal.
If their problems can be resolved at the district level, the number of grievances at the state level will considerably get reduced, Shri Majhi said.
Sources said that more than 5,000 people have visited the grievance cell and 1540 grievances were registered during the day.