The helpdesk of Berhampur Municipal Corporation. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Sept. 2: Municipal commissioner Ajit Kumar Mishra is unhappy with the meagre number of calls received by the corporation’s helpdesk that was set up on September 1, last year.

Only 299 calls have been received since its inception.

The toll-free number of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation helpdesk, which was launched to address the problems of the people staying within its limits, is 1800-3456-796 and anybody can call here to lodge his or her complaint from 8am to 8pm on working days.

“We expected more phone calls and involvement of the public in Berhampur, which has a population of more than 3.55 lakh,” Mishra said.

“We opened the toll-free number helpdesk on September 1, 2012, and it is slowly picking up. This is a new concept and it will take some more time to streamline the process,” said Bijay Gopal Nanda, deputy secretary of the civic body, who is in charge of the helpdesk.

“We have deployed two persons on the helpdesk to receive the calls, record the date, names of the complainant, phone numbers, the nature of complaint and dispatch these complaints to the departments concerned for immediate action,” Nanda said.

Earlier a complainant had to visit the corporation office to register a complaint. But these complaints were never registered.