Odisha Chief Minister Addresses Thousands in Grievance Hearing Session

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi resumed the public grievance hearing on Monday after a two-week hiatus. Around 5,000 people attended the session to seek solutions to their problems. The event took place at the CM’s grievance cell in Bhubaneswar, where there was a significant rush during the registration process.

The hearing, which started at 10 am and continued until 5 pm, saw the participation of Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, four other ministers, and senior officers. A total of 2,403 grievances were registered on that day. According to Parida, most issues were resolved through telephonic instructions to the concerned officials.

Public Grievance Hearing Programme

The public grievance hearing programme is an initiative by the BJP government aimed at providing swift justice to the people. Parida mentioned that this programme would be expanded in the future. Revenue divisional commissioners (RDC) will handle public grievances at the district level.

Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan also held a public grievance hearing at the party office. However, this move faced criticism from the opposition BJD. BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty stated, "Conduct of public grievance hearings in party offices means the programme is limited to only their party workers. We welcome the move of the government to hear public grievances. But, the common public should not be forced to come to their office to resolve their issues."

Future Plans and Reviews

The Deputy CM announced that the BJP government would review the progress of the public grievance redressal programme and release a detailed report after 100 days. This review aims to assess how effectively grievances are being addressed.

The Chief Minister’s public grievance hearing sessions began on July 1 and are held every Monday. The sessions were paused for two weeks due to Majhi's visit to New Delhi and the Odisha assembly session.

The initiative reflects an effort by the BJP government to ensure that citizens' issues are addressed promptly. The expansion of this programme aims to make it more accessible at various administrative levels.

As this initiative continues, it will be crucial for the government to ensure that all citizens have equal access to these grievance redressal mechanisms without any political bias.