In July 2022, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched a public grievance redressal portal, promising time-bound resolution of complaints. However, almost four years later, state data obtained through an RTI request reveals a different reality. A total of 704 complaints have been pending for over a year across various departments, according to the state government's own reply.
CM Helpline and Portal Statistics
The CM helpline was launched a year ago. The RTI reply from the Directorate of Public Grievances shows that together, the portal and helpline received 3,692 complaints, of which 2,586 were addressed. This leaves more than 1,000 complaints unresolved.
Department-wise Pending Complaints
The Public Works Department (PWD) tops the list with 231 grievances awaiting resolution. It is followed by the Municipal Administration department with 186 pending complaints. The Revenue Department has 89 unresolved complaints, while the Panchayat department has 27 complaints awaiting attention for over a year. The Directorate of Transport has 14 pending complaints, and the Drinking Water department, created just 15 months ago, has accumulated 11 complaints pending for over a year.
Helpline vs Portal Resolution Rates
Data indicates that departments were more responsive to complaints received via the CM's helpline. For instance, PWD resolved 260 out of 268 complaints received through the helpline. In contrast, only 136 of 283 complaints received through the public grievance portal were addressed. However, some departments remained unresponsive regardless of the channel. Municipal Administration resolved none of the seven complaints received through the helpline and only 13 out of 100 complaints received through the portal over two years.
The Revenue and Panchayat departments were also slow to respond. On the other hand, the Health, Women and Child, and Police departments showed quicker resolution times.
Background and Promises
The CM launched the portal upon completing 100 days in office, stating that it would make the administration "more responsive, accountable, transparent and citizen-friendly." Sawant had said that each department's designated public grievance officer would redress grievances within a timeline, and complainants would be informed of the status within 48 hours. If the timeline was exceeded, the grievance would be escalated to higher authorities.
Complaint Resolution Data Over Two Years
Public Grievance Portal: Revenue received 303 complaints, addressed 115; Public Works received 283, addressed 136; Drinking Water received 118, addressed 64; Panchayat received 198, addressed 90; Electricity received 188, addressed 154; Transport received 138, addressed 64; Municipal Administration received 100, addressed 13; Water Resources received 39, addressed 5; Education received 38, addressed 26; Vigilance received 25, addressed 5.
CM Helpline: Police received 107 complaints, addressed 105; Social Welfare received 103, addressed 103; Electricity received 75, addressed 75; Health Services received 43, addressed 40; Drinking Water received 18, addressed 12; Kadamba Transport received 17, addressed 11; Transport received 14, addressed 7; Panchayat received 12, addressed 3; Revenue received 10, addressed 5; Raj Bhavan received 8, addressed 0; Municipal Administration received 7, addressed 0.
Complaints Pending for Over a Year on PGRS Portal
PWD: 231; Municipal Administration: 186; Revenue: 89; Panchayat: 27; Transport: 14; Vigilance: 12; Drinking Water: 11.
