Gujarat: 15.79 lakh grievances resolved through 'Swagat' programme since 2003, says official

Gandhinagar, Sep 2 (IANS) Gujarat's technology-driven grievance redressal initiative 'Swagat' (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) has emerged as a flagship model of citizen-centric governance, resolving more than 15.79 lakh complaints in the last two decades, as per official data shared on Tuesday.

Since its launch in 2003 by the then Chief Minister and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the programme has received 15,84,535 grievances, of which 15,79,002 have been successfully addressed.

Under the leadership of current Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the programme has continued to strengthen its reach.

In the past four years alone, 2,39,934 citizen complaints have been resolved through 'Swagat'.

The Chief Minister personally chairs the state-level hearings, held every fourth Thursday of the month, where citizens are allowed to directly present their grievances.

The idea behind 'Swagat' was to use technology to reduce the distance between citizens and the state machinery.

Complaints are received at four levels -- state, district, taluka, and village.

At the district level, grievances are heard by the District Collector; at the taluka level by the Prant Officer; and at the village level, applications are collected from the first to the 10th of each month by local officials and forwarded for review.

The state-level platform, however, stands out as it allows ordinary citizens to be heard directly by Chief Minister Patel.

Citizens can register complaints in person, by post, or digitally.

In 2021, the state government introduced the 'Write to Chief Minister's Office (CMO)' online portal, enabling citizens to directly send their grievances to the CMO.

One example of the programme's impact is that of Bharatbhai Khodifad from Mahuva in Bhavnagar district.

His family had been waiting for decades to obtain ownership documents of a residential plot promised after the municipality acquired nine acres of ancestral land in 1967.

Despite multiple applications at the local and district levels, the matter remained unresolved.

When Bharatbhai finally approached the state-level 'Swagat' programme, his case was heard directly by Chief Minister Patel.

"The Chief Minister patiently listened to my grievance and instructed officials to prepare the land documents," Bharatbhai said.

"After years of uncertainty, we finally secured ownership, which has also allowed us to pursue a loan for my children's higher education."

The state government describes 'Swagat' as a cornerstone of its ease of living efforts.

By ensuring that grievances are not just heard but also acted upon, the programme has become an accountability mechanism embedded in the governance system.

Officials highlight that the success rate of grievance resolution under 'Swagat' is exceptionally high, with more than 99 per cent of registered complaints resolved since inception.

--IANS

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