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Context:

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions has launched the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2023.

What is the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI)?

GRAI is a framework developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to evaluate and rank the grievance redressal mechanisms of central ministries and departments. It aims to provide a comparative assessment of their strengths and areas for improvement.

A total of 89 central ministries and departments were evaluated and ranked. The rankings are based on data from the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Management System (CPGRAMS).

CPGRAMS

It is a platform for citizens to file and track grievances online, which improves government transparency and accountability.

It was launched in 2007 by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

The Commonwealth Secretariat recognized it as a best practice in April 2024.

The first edition, GRAI 2022, was released in June 2023.

It evaluates performance using four dimensions:

Efficiency
Feedback
Domain
Organizational Commitment

These dimensions are evaluated using eleven related indicators.

How are ministries and departments grouped in GRAI?

Ministries and departments are divided into 3 groups based on the number of grievances registered in 2023.

Group A has over 10,000 grievances (28 ministries/departments).
Group B has 2,000 to 9,999 grievances (33 ministries/departments)
Group C has less than 2,000 grievances (28 ministries/departments).

The report employs a two-dimensional (vertical and horizontal) analysis with color-coded insights to identify the root causes of effective grievance redressal for each ministry and department.

Which departments led the rankings in each category?

Group A: Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Group B: Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Group C: Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.

Recommendations in the GRAI 2023 report

Utilizing advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning for analytics.

Increasing accountability through audits.

Expanding CPGRAMS to the third tier of government.

Improving ATR (Action Taken Report) formats for better reporting.

Strengthening GROs (Grievance Redressal Officers) through capacity-building programs.

Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) provides a structured framework to improve transparency and accountability by identifying areas for improvement in grievance redressal systems.

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Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022

Source:

PIB

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.Consider the following statements in the context of the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI):

1. It was conceptualized and designed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

2. It is based on data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: D

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect:

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) conceptualized and designed the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) based on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions.

Statement 2 is incorrect:

The rankings are based on information from the Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Management System (CPGRAMS).