Complainants from Punjab attend CM Bhagwant Mann’s ‘Lok Milni’ for grievance redressal

CHANDIGARH: A large number of persons from different parts of the state turned up with their grievances at chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s first public interaction, Lok Milni, held at the Punjab Bhawan here for redressal of their grievances. Mann met 61 complainants and ordered a probe against two tehsildars.
As the event was initially publicised as ‘Jantak Sunwai,’ many complainants converged at the venue uninvited, assuming that they would get a chance to meet the chief minister and put forth their grouses. However, they were not allowed in as their names were not on the list based on the complaints received by the CMO in the last two months of the AAP government. This led to heartburn and chaos outside the venue as some of the complainants registered their protest.
Congress leaders tweeted videos of such complainants expressing their angst. An AAP leader, meanwhile, claimed that about 80 such uninvited persons were later called in a group separately after Mann had met the others individually.
The complainants included unemployed youth, outsourced employees seeking regularisation, beekeepers demanding financial aid, complaints of encroachments on village panchayat land, demands of associations like that of nambardars and temporary teachers, and Ludhiana travel agents alleging Rs 2.25 crore fraud in air tickets.
Besides, there were several complaints pertaining to the power sector like delays in the installation of commercial meters, land disputes, and drug addiction. People had started converging from 8 am, some coming all the way from districts such as Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Bathinda. “This is a step to make sure that we facilitate the people for resolving their long-pending administrative issues. The interactive program is aimed at ensuring a single-window platform for the people for redressal of their complaints. The endeavour is aimed at ensuring that people do not have to run pillar to post,” Mann said while launching the event, adding that he would personally monitor the status of these complaints every week in a timebound manner.
The chief minister asked the department of social justice and empowerment to immediately release the pending arrears of the ‘Shagun scheme’ to the eligible beneficiaries. On the complaint of Dr Seema Rani, whose husband had passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic about two years ago, Mann asked officers to ensure that she gets the job.
The CM also asked the battery of officers who attended the event to ensure that the issues flagged by the complaints are resolved promptly. The officials at the venue assured complainants without appointments and those who reached late that they will be called at the next ‘Lok Sunwai’ event after their applications are processed by the departments concerned. ASangrur resident Sham Lal Singla, who met the CM said, “We were duped by a mushroom and fertilizer dealer, but no police case was registered. I was called after I raised the issue on the government’s portal.”