New Delhi: To realize the Chief Minister’s visionary goal of “Development with Justice” in the direction of governance and administrative reforms in Bihar, The Bihar Right To Public Grievance Redressal Act, 2015 was implemented in the state on June 5, 2016.Under this Act, public grievances are resolved by the designated Public Grievance Redressal Officer within the prescribed time limit of 60 working days. In this context, this is not merely a story of first instalment payment under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, but a remarkable tale of government’s sensitivity towards weaker section and its commitment to public welfare.
Amina Khatoon, wife of Mohd. Rasid, resident of Rampur Gogri village filed an online complaint through Bihar Public Grievance Redressal Portal (unique number-9999901290824493842). The complaint was regarding “Union Bank, Jamalpur, Gogri not disbursing the first installment amount of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana”. The complainant had got the approval of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana but the amount of first installment was credited to the bank account of someone else. The person who received the amount was a pre-existing loan defaulter and the bank adjusted the loan as soon as the amount was credited in his account.
In the mean time, the complainant was served a notice from the block office to complete the house construction work to receive the next instalment, which worried her since she never received any amount for the house construction after its approval. She was informed by the block office that the amount of the first instalment had already been credited in her bank account. She came to know about the act, then she filed e a complaint under The Bihar Public Grievance Redressal Act, a law designed to address the grievances of citizen.
Following the complaint, notice was issued by District Public Grievance Redressal Officer(DPGRO), Khagaria to the Lead Bank Manager, Khagaria and block development officer, Gogri and were directed to appear for the hearing after resolving
the grievance. This marked the beginning of a long-awaited glimmer of hope for Amina, who had been tirelessly fighting for justice.
The manager at the time of hearing, claimed that the amount of first installment is wrongly transferred into the account of a loan defaulter. The pre-existing loan was adjusted against the credited amount. According to him, now the said amount could not be credited back to the account of the complainant (actual beneficiary) without the permission of the higher authority of the bank management.
During the hearing, the District Public Grievance Redressal Officer, Khagaria told that the use of amount received under a government aided scheme for debt settlement is unethical and the complainant will remain homeless for her whole life. The District Public Grievance Redressal Officer directed the Block Development Officer and the Lead Bank Manager to credit the amount to the beneficiary’s account.
As a result, the bank obtained necessary permission from the head office and credited the first installment amount to the Amina Khatoon’s account. In this way her complaint was finally redressed.
The sparkle in the eyes of the complainant and the expression of relief on her face narrated the story of the usefulness and effectiveness of this act.