Hyderabad: Prajavani remains unheard

Abids: Prajavani, the weekly programme organised by the Collectorate, has become a thing of past, feel denizens. They question why these programmes meant for redressal of public grievances are not being resumed, as normalcy has returned in every sector.

Since the lockdown in March 2020, the Hyderabad and the Ranga Reddy Collectorates have halted the Prajavani programmes. It has turned a major concern for people who want to take their grievances to the notice of authorities.

A visit to Hyderabad Collectorate on Monday saw many persons waiting outside the office for their turn to meet the Collector. But even after waiting for hours, they did not get a chance to submit representations to the higher official.

On March 17, the Hyderabad and the Ranga Reddy District Collectors Shweta Mohanty and Amoy Kumar respectively announced a temporary halt to Prajavani. It seems that a temporary cancellation has been made permanent, feel the visitors.

"I have filed online petitions related to a land issue but didn't receive any response from the authority. Today I came down from Old City to submit the petition directly to the collector but even after waiting from morning to evening I wasn't able to meet the collector," lamented Manoj Kumar (42), a resident of Puranapul.

Plea for online Prajavani

Kumar suggested that as every official work is being done online, the government authorities should also conduct the Prajavani online to address the public issues. Prajavani was started with an aim to address public grievances every Monday by visiting the government offices to represent their problems by meeting the concerned officials.

However, on July 6, 2020, the District Collector of Khammam took a first of its kind initiative by conducting online Prajavani and addressed the issues, whereas the district administrations all over the State canceled grievance cell meetings by citing the excuse of COVID-19. Yasmeen Begum, a complainant who has been visiting the Collectorate for a week, said, "When I visited the office the official here told me to file my petition online. I went back and asked my daughter to file a petition. It has been almost a week that my issue has not been addressed which forced me to come down to the office and wait for my turn to submit the petition."

Another complainant wondered when the state administration reopened schools and colleges why the authority cannot re-start Prajavani.

Meanwhile, GHMC headquarters have also cancelled the Prajavani meetings, but in some circles of zonal offices like Kukatpally and Serilingampally, Prajavani is being conducted since November last.