Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has made Aadhaar e-KYC mandatory for recording complainants’ personal details under the recently launched Praja Seva Abhiyaana (PSA), aimed at ensuring time-bound redressal of public grievances.
The directive has been issued to deputy commissioners across the state, with officials asked to ensure that complaints received during Janasamparka Sabhas are properly documented and uploaded on the Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (iPGRS) within two days of submission.
Principal Secretary, Prajaseva Department, Harsh Gupta, issued the instructions, highlighting gaps in the recording of complainants’ details and delays in registering petitions on the online grievance system.
Aadhaar e-KYC to record complainant details
According to the circular issued to deputy commissioners, details such as the complainant’s name, contact number and address were not being recorded properly during some of the Janasamparka Sabhas conducted earlier this month.
The government has now directed officials to collect these details through Aadhaar e-KYC by default. The move is intended to ensure that accurate information is captured while registering grievances and to make it easier for authorities to track and process complaints.
Biometric devices are to be made available at Janasamparka Sabha venues to facilitate Aadhaar authentication. Complainants will be able to use OTP- or biometric-based authentication for the e-KYC process.
However, the government has clarified that the absence of an Aadhaar card or a complainant’s refusal to provide Aadhaar details should not prevent a petition from being accepted. In such cases, officials will have to record the petition manually.
Complaints to be uploaded within two days
The government has also instructed officials to ensure that petitions received during Janasamparka Sabhas are entered into iPGRS within two days of submission.
Gupta observed that applications received at Janasamparka Sabhas in some districts were being registered on the grievance portal only after several days. Such delays could affect the timely processing and monitoring of public grievances.
The new instructions seek to establish a fixed timeline between the receipt of a complaint and its registration on iPGRS. Once uploaded, the complaints can be processed through the government’s integrated grievance redressal mechanism.
The department has also directed officials to upload master data relating to Janasamparka Sabhas scheduled to be held from the coming Saturday for a period of three months.
According to the circular, this information needs to be entered into the software without delay. Unless the master data is available, data entry operators will not be able to select the relevant Janasamparka Sabha venue while registering complaints.
AI and OCR to digitise handwritten petitions
The government is also planning to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to digitise handwritten complaints received from citizens.
Under the proposed process, handwritten applications will be scanned and converted into OCR-based PDF files. AI will then be used to convert the handwritten material into typed text.
However, the converted content will not be treated as final without verification. Data entry operators will be required to check and correct the text generated through the OCR and AI process.
Gupta said the department was working towards enabling citizens to continue submitting handwritten applications while reducing the manual effort involved in entering their contents into the grievance system.
The proposed system is expected to help officials handle large volumes of petitions received during public grievance meetings while maintaining a digital record of the complaints.
Senior officers to oversee grievance counters
The circular also addresses concerns over the quality and completeness of information being collected at Janasamparka Sabhas.
Gupta noted that grievances were sometimes not being recorded properly, with important information and supporting documents missing from applications. To address this issue, the government has directed that grievance counters at Janasamparka Sabhas should be staffed by senior officers.
Officials have been advised to preferably deploy gram panchayat-level nodal officers at these counters. Their experience and familiarity with local administrative processes are expected to help ensure that complaints are recorded with the necessary details and supporting documents.
The government has also indicated that experienced NGO personnel and retired government officials could be considered for assisting at the counters.
The emphasis on trained personnel is aimed at improving the initial scrutiny and documentation of petitions so that complaints can be forwarded to the appropriate departments with sufficient information for further action.
Focus on time-bound grievance redressal
The Praja Seva Abhiyaana is intended to provide citizens with a structured mechanism to submit grievances and receive time-bound responses from the administration.
The latest instructions bring together several measures — Aadhaar-based authentication, faster iPGRS registration, digitisation of handwritten petitions and greater supervision at grievance counters.
While Aadhaar e-KYC will be the default method for collecting complainant details, the government has retained manual submission for people who do not have an Aadhaar card available or do not wish to provide Aadhaar details.
The directions also place responsibility on district administrations to ensure that complaints are entered into the digital system promptly and that Janasamparka Sabha data is available in advance.
With the government planning to use OCR and AI for digitising handwritten applications, the process is also moving towards greater digital integration while retaining manual options for citizens. The success of the system will depend on accurate data collection, timely uploading of petitions and proper verification by officials.