Mayor Firhad Hakim will let citizens know through text messages whether a complaint they had lodged at his weekly phone-in programme had been addressed or not.

The mayor’s office has sought “action taken report” from the heads of all departments of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) so that citizens can be informed about what the civic body has done in response to their complaints.

A source in the corporation said the text messages were likely to go out from next week.

“All of you please file what action you have taken based on the complaints lodged during the Talk to Mayor programme. I earned this chair because of the common people and I am duty bound to inform them what action I have taken in response to their complaints,” Hakim told the heads after the weekly phone-in programme ended on Saturday.

The programme that used to be held on Wednesdays will now be held between 3pm and 4pm on Saturdays.

The mayor said that when his office received the reports on action taken in response to the complaints, he would start sending the text messages.

“If I don’t give feedback to the citizens who called me, they would think that this programme is an eyewash. They will have an impression that work doesn’t get done even after calling the mayor,” said Hakim.

CMC officials said that even those who complained on the mayor’s WhatsApp number would get replies. “Earlier we had replied to a few WhatsApp complaints but not to all. Henceforth, it will become a norm to reply to all complaints. The only request to complainants is that they should leave their mobile phone numbers at the end of the messages,” said an official.

The official said Hakim had received over 500 complaints ever since he started the Talk to Mayor programme on July 1 and made public his WhatsApp number. Among the complaints lodged so far, most are related to illegal constructions and dilapidated buildings.

Citizens can call up toll-free number 1800 345 1213 to lodge complaints during the Talk to Mayor programme on Saturdays or leave a message at Hakim’s WhatsApp number 9830037493.

At the weekly phone-in programme, citizens get the chance to directly air their complaints with Hakim personally taking the calls. On receiving a call, Hakim’s standard response is: “Hello, this is Calcutta’s mayor speaking.”

After the mayor completed his weekly phone-in programme on Saturday, municipal commissioner Khalil Ahmed read out from a list the numbers of complaints against which action taken reports were still pending.