Bantwal: The statewide ‘Prajaseva Andolana’, aimed at resolving public grievances closer to people’s homes, will begin in Bantwal taluk with the first hobli-level meeting scheduled at Polali in Kariangala village on September 5.
Tahsildar Manjunath announced the programme while addressing a press conference at his office on Thursday. The meeting will begin at 10 am at the Sarvamangala auditorium of the Polali Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple, with MLA Rajesh Naik presiding over the programme.
Officials from various government departments will be available at the meeting to receive petitions directly from residents and hear their grievances.
Officials to address public grievances
The initiative is intended to provide people with a convenient platform to bring local problems directly to the attention of government officials.
Officials from different taluk-level departments will participate in the meeting and hear complaints concerning various aspects of public administration and essential services.
Residents can raise issues related to roads, drinking water, revenue matters, pensions, government facilities, basic infrastructure and other problems affecting their villages and hoblis.
The administration has also made arrangements to resolve issues that can be addressed immediately at the meeting itself. Petitions requiring detailed examination or action from a particular department will be forwarded to the concerned authorities for further review.
The system is expected to make grievance redressal more accessible while helping officials understand problems at the local level.
Meetings to be held every Saturday
According to Tahsildar Manjunath, the administration plans to conduct hobli-level ‘Prajaseva Andolana’ meetings across Bantwal taluk every Saturday in the coming days.
The regular meetings are intended to create a direct channel between residents and government departments. Instead of waiting for grievances to move through multiple administrative levels, people will have an opportunity to present their concerns directly before officials in their respective localities.
The administration has also planned taluk-level meetings on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month.
Instructions have reportedly been issued to various government departments not to schedule other meetings on these designated days. This is intended to ensure that officials are available for the grievance redressal programmes and that the initiative functions effectively.
Public can submit petitions directly
The meetings will allow residents to submit written petitions and explain their concerns directly to the officials concerned.
Issues relating to basic infrastructure, public services and individual government benefits can be brought before the authorities. This could be particularly useful for residents who face difficulties in travelling to the taluk headquarters to pursue administrative matters.
Depending on the nature of each complaint, officials will either attempt to provide an immediate solution or forward the petition to the appropriate department for necessary action.
The initiative could also help the administration identify recurring problems affecting particular villages or hoblis and take up such issues in a coordinated manner.
Initiative aims to bring administration closer
A key objective of the ‘Prajaseva Andolana’ is to make government services and grievance redressal more accessible to people.
Residents often need to approach different departments for matters concerning roads, water supply, revenue records, pensions and government schemes. Local-level meetings can reduce the need for repeated visits to government offices and provide people with an opportunity to interact with multiple departments at one location.
The presence of officials from different departments is also expected to help residents identify the appropriate authority for their particular grievance.
For the administration, the meetings provide an opportunity to receive first-hand information about issues affecting villages and respond to them in a structured manner.
Tahsildar appeals for public participation
Tahsildar Manjunath has appealed to residents to participate in the meetings in large numbers and make full use of the opportunity.
The first hobli-level meeting at Polali on September 5 will serve as the beginning of the programme in Bantwal taluk. Residents from the surrounding areas can use the platform to bring their pending grievances before the officials concerned.
The success of the initiative will depend largely on effective follow-up after petitions are submitted. While issues that can be resolved immediately may receive quick attention, petitions requiring departmental scrutiny will need to be tracked until appropriate action is taken.
With weekly hobli-level meetings and twice-monthly taluk-level meetings planned, the administration hopes to establish a regular mechanism through which residents can directly approach government officials and seek solutions to their problems.