Naveen never attends grievance cell hearing

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Sep 9: Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik never attends the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell which is held once a week.This information has been provided by the government in response to an RTI application filed by activist Pradip Pradhan.According to Pradhan, the application was submitted to the Dept.of General Administration of the State Government on July 9, 2014 seeking information about functioning of Chief Minister Grievance Cell from 2009 to 2014.The application was forwarded to the PIO, office of Parliamentary Affairs to provide the information.“Chief Minister never attends the hearing.A team of senior officers are hearing the grievances during the period from May 2009 to March 2014,” the government said in its reply.During 2009 to 2014, the Chief Minister Grievance Cell received total number of 47,750 petitions and disposed 39,651 cases, according to the government reply.The grievance petitions of the people received in the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell are forwarded to the concerned departments/officers for taking appropriate action as per rule.The concerned departments/officers furnish action taken report on the grievance petitions to the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell and to the petitioners as well.Pending grievance petitions are being monitored for disposal.Prior to December 3, 2012 grievance hearing was held on all working Saturdays and from this date hearing was held on working Mondays.The grievance petitions were also received by post and through e-Abhijoga.The Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell operates from the official residence of the Chief Minister, but Patnaik lives at Naveen Nivas, his parental home in the city.