Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the chief minister’s grievance redressal cell had addressed 93 percent of 7.89 lakh complaints lodged by common people through various channels over the past one year.

“The grievance redressal cell has addressed 93 per cent of the grievances lodged so far. We had received 7.89 lakh grievances and barring 54,000 of them, all have been addressed. The remaining grievances would also be redressed,” the chief minister said while inaugurating a new G+2 building — Upanna — near Nabanna in Howrah on Wednesday.

The grievance redressal cell will soon be shifted to Upanna from Uttirno, an open-air theatre in Alipore, Calcutta.

Sources have said the number of grievances lodged by common people and the cell’s response to the complaints hold significance for the Trinamul Congress ahead of the Assembly polls.

The cell — which was refurbished and whose charge was given to a senior IAS officer in June last year following Trinamul’s unimpressive performance in the Lok Sabha elections — received grievances from various corners.

“The grievances lodged through the ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ programme and various government departments were all sent to the cell. It worked in a professional manner, took up each of the complaints and sent the same to the respective department for redressal within a specific timeframe. This produced desired results,” said a source.

The complaints, officials said, varied from those over pending pensions, non-availability of dwelling units under housing schemes and lack of facilities under different relief schemes to land-related issues and police atrocities.

The state government wanted to handle all the grievances in a professional manner after the ruling party had received a jolt in the 2019-Lok Sabha polls.

It initiated several steps, including hiring of professionals from private companies through lateral entry, so that the cell could work properly.
“Now, it seems the strategy has worked. Addressing more than 7 lakh grievances in a year is not an easy task by any means,” said a senior bureaucrat.

A section of officials, however, said the huge number of grievances suggested there was a serious trouble in the benefit delivery mechanism of the government and that’s why people were forced to knock the doors of the chief minister’s office with complaints.

The ruling establishment made it clear that it would now depend heavily on the cell to minimise the anti-incumbency factor ahead of the 2021 polls.

“The cell is being brought to Upanna, metres away from Nabanna, so that the chief minister herself and top government officials can look after its daily affairs. Moreover, some more professionals would be recruited to the cell to give more hands to address more grievances,” said an official.