Ranchi: Chief minister Raghubar Das on Tuesday morning skipped his monthly grievance forum Seedhi Baat at Suchana Bhavan here, possibly the first time since the event's inception, with development commissioner D.K. Tiwari conducting the proceedings.
The chief minister was unwell but would reach Project Building at 3pm and attend the cabinet meeting at 4pm, his senior private secretary Anjan Sarkar told this paper.
Representing the chief minister, development commissioner D.K. Tiwari, assisted by the CM's principal secretary Sunil Barnwal, heard 16 complaints on Tuesday.
Tiwari told deputy commissioners that their overall performance appraisal would mainly be based on how well they executed Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and special initiatives to uplift 19 districts in Jharkhand dubbed "aspirational".
He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed these during his meeting with Niti Aayog governing body at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on June 18 and with the DCs of the state's 19 aspirational districts at Ranchi airport on May 25.
"Niti Aayog vice-chairman (Rajiv Kumar) is coming here on July 4. Thereafter, Niti Aayog chief executive officer (Amitabh Kant) too will come. You should complete your work on time," Tiwari said.
Tuesday's complaints included those against Latehar DC Rajiv Kumar for not initiating steps to repair a school building or putting up toilets and a hand pump, Ramgarh DC B. Rajeshwari for not facilitating due payment to suppliers of water in tankers in 2016 summer, Giridih DC Manoj Kumar for not disposing over 23 Kany-adaan Yojana applications received last fiscal and Pakur DC D.K. Jha for not justifying why workers outsourced for electrification had not received wages since last November. Latehar, Ramgarh, Giridih and Pakur are among aspirational districts.
One Upendra Prasad of Lohardaga also complained that the police took away his truck in July 2013 for panchayat election work in Bengal. "The vehicle was used by the CRPF but I wasn't paid anything," the complainant said. ADG (operations) R.K. Mallick replied he had spoken to the ADG (establishment) in Bengal on the issue.
