Grievances Commission of Delhi govt toothless since Dec 2017

The redressal body of Delhi government ‘the Public Grievances Commission' (PGC) is completely defunct, because the Commission's Chairman post is vacant since December 2017 and one of its four members Sudhir Yadav is working as whole time member.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia slammed Lieutenant Governor as well as senior bureaucrat for not appointing public Grievances Commission members and its Chairman's post is vacant for eight months. Sisodia, several times attacked the Centre by accusing it of capturing ‘services' through high handedness and vowed that the work of the people will be done despite hurdles.

The Commission's Chairman PK Tripathi retired on December 15, 2017 and only Sudhir Yadav is working as member of the Commission. The Commission's office is looking completely deserted and website was last updated on December 19, 2017. The number of people harassed by different authorities in Delhi who are queuing up at the PGC, meanwhile, is rising by the day. They are being given dates for hearings three to four months later for lack of staff to attend to them.

In the exercise of its functions, the PGC has the same measure of autonomy and independence as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). It consists of four members - the Chairman, a whole-time member and two part-time members. The parttime members, drawn from social work background, shoulder the maximum number of complaints - up to 50 in a day. The Public Grievance Commission's website says it handled 6,829 complaints in 2011-2012.

A senior government official said on the condition of anonymity: "The PGC is the eyes and ears of the Delhi government. Though every department has a separate grievance cell, often they are found lax or favouring their own officials. This make the PGC an important body for public welfare."