Former Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused the TRS Government of dismantling the entire mechanism of public grievances and redressal across the State.
“In the absence of a permanent Peshi, all ministers and departments are functioning without an address. People have no clue as to where they can lodge a complaint or express grievances seeking their redressal. This is entirely against the spirit of democracy and the Constitution,” Shabbir Ali said in a media statement on Saturday.
Ali alleged that some ministers were trying to replace the grievances mechanism with social media. “Some ministers including K. Tarakarama Rao are giving an impression that he is resolving the problems being faced by the people through social media platform Twitter. This impression is mostly fake and manipulated. Some people who are familiar with Twitter are sharing their problems on the micro-blogging site. Of them, only a select few are getting the attention and the Minister is creating a fake impression as if he is resolving all the problems addressed to him through Twitter. In reality, a majority of users who are sharing their problems are either being blocked by the Minister’s office or they are simply not responding to their queries. This is highly inhumane and insulting for the common people,” he said.
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The Congress leader said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has remained inaccessible to the common people for the last seven years. The TRS ministers are simply emulating CM KCR in evading common people. He said none of the numbers of complaint cells, including those of Covid-19, were fully functional. He said that of over 50 Helplines, only seven are functioning partially. He accused CM KCR of turning Telangana into a dictatorship where common people have no say in any matter. CM KCR dismantled the very mechanism which empowered the common man wherein people had the power to complain about things that concern them. Consequently, many people are now directly approaching the High Court by filing Public Interest Litigations (PILs), he said.
Referring to the severe remarks made by the High Court against the State Government for mishandling the Covid-19 situation, Shabbir Ali said that the situation would have worsened if the court had not intervened at the right time. “It was at the directions of the High Court that the State Government increased the number of tests and took measures to control the spread of Coronavirus. Despite public outcry over private hospitals charging exorbitant amounts for Covid treatment, KCR Govt took no action. Again it was after the intervention of the High Court that the Health Department swung into action although it was yet to recover the extra money charged by the private hospitals,” he said.
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He demanded that the State Government take immediate measures to restore the grievances mechanism and enable people to lodge complaints about their specific problems. “Social media platforms can be used as a medium by NGOs and other platforms. But the government cannot replace the public grievances mechanism with Twitter or any other platforms. Not every citizen of Telangana is on Twitter and not every user has the skills to use it to express his/her grievances. Therefore, the State Government should either restore the old system or devise a new mechanism wherein people can lodge their complaints without any inconvenience,” he demanded.
SOURCE-NSS
