District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh

Patna, Jan. 4: Citizens who visited district magistrate (DM) Sanjay Kumar Singh’s janata darbar last year but are yet to get any solution for their problems can expect a speedy redress now. Singh has asked the officials concerned to sort the pending complaints on a priority basis of face music.

Sources said the DM’s office received around 10,888 complaints in the course of janata darbar in 2011, of which 80 per cent has been addressed. Singh today issued an order asking the officials to address the remaining 20 per cent as soon as possible.

“During an inspection of the complaints received by the district administration, I found that of 10,888 complaints, 6,045 have come from the chief minister’s secretariat, 96 from the chief secretary’s office and 4,747 from the district magistrate’s office. About 80 per cent of the complaints have been addressed and the rest are pending,” said Singh.

He also said: “It is very important to address the complaints that come to the janata dabar. So, the officials concerned have been directed to redress the pending cases on an urgent basis.”

The DM added that strict action would be taken if the official concerned failed to perform the duty. “Every officials must take the janata darbar grievances on top priority. No negligence in this regard shall be tolerated. I want to ensure that all the complaints of the people are redressed.”

Describing the kind of action that a lax official may face, Singh told The Telegraph: “Disciplinary action will be taken against the officials responsible for neglecting their duties.”

This includes departmental proceedings and suspension. Even the salary of the official could be stopped.

Such disciplinary action is not new though. Singh stopped the salary of the district education officer when he failed to attend his janata darbar.

Residents are of course very happy to get such assurance from the officer.

Parsa Bazaar resident Dilip Kumar praised Singh’s efforts and said: “The work done by the district magistrate is really praiseworthy. We hope that not a single complaint would be left unattended in the coming days.”

The DM assured that he would do his best to not let the district residents down. He said: “I shall review the complaints on a regular basis and ensure that all of them are addressed. If any complaint is pending because of dereliction of duty, the official concerned will be pulled up.”

Singh, however, refused to mention a timeframe in which the pending complaints would be disposed. “I cannot tell you any timeframe. I have asked the officials to redress the problems as soon as possible. There are some subjudice land dispute cases on which I can’t comment,” he said.