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Context: The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has recently launched the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022, a comprehensive framework to assess and rank the performance of central ministries and departments on public grievance redressal.

Details

• Grievance redressal is a vital aspect of good governance and citizen-centric administration. It reflects the responsiveness and accountability of the government towards the public and their concerns.
• To measure and improve the performance of grievance redressal mechanisms in various Central Ministries and Departments, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, has conceptualised and designed the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022.

Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022:

• The GRAI 2022 provides a comparative analysis of the performance of different ministries and departments over time and across sectors.
• It is based on a weighted average score of all the indicators, which ranges from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the better the performance of the ministry or department on grievance redressal.
• It is expected to serve as a useful tool for benchmarking, learning, and improving grievance redressal mechanisms in the central government. It will also help in identifying gaps, challenges, and areas of improvement for enhancing citizen satisfaction and trust in public service delivery.
• It aims to foster a culture of effective grievance redressal and ensure prompt resolution of public grievances by promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen-centric governance.

Objective

• The main objective of GRAI 2022 is to present an organisation-wise comparative picture and provide valuable insights about the strengths and areas of improvement regarding the grievance redressal mechanism. To foster a culture of effective grievance redressal and ensure prompt resolution of public grievances.

Methodology

• GRAI 2022 covers 89 Central Ministries and Departments that are grouped into three categories based on the number of grievances received by them in a year:
  • Group A (more than 50,000 grievances)
  • Group B (10,000 to 50,000 grievances)
  • Group C (less than 10,000 grievances)
• The index is computed based on a comprehensive framework that consists of four dimensions and 12 indicators. The four dimensions are:

1. Efficiency

• This dimension measures the timeliness and quality of grievance disposal by the organisation.
• It includes indicators such as average disposal time, percentage of grievances disposed of within a stipulated time, percentage of grievances reopened and percentage of grievances pending beyond the stipulated time.

2. Feedback

• This dimension measures the extent of feedback sought and received from the complainants after grievance disposal. It includes indicators such as the percentage of feedback requests sent, the percentage of feedback received and the average feedback rating.

3. Domain

• This dimension measures the domain knowledge and expertise of the organisation in handling grievances related to its sector or field. It includes indicators such as the percentage of grievances related to the core domain, the percentage of grievances related to the allied domain and the percentage of grievances related to the non-domain.

4. Organisational Commitment

• This dimension measures the commitment and involvement of the organisation in improving its grievance redressal mechanism. It includes indicators such as the adoption of CPGRAMS reforms, implementation of innovative practices and participation in capacity-building programmes.

Data Source

• To compute the index, data between January and December 2022 was used from the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Management System (CPGRAMS).

CPGRAMS ●CPGRAMS is an online platform available to citizens 24x7 to lodge their grievances to the public authorities on any subject related to service delivery. ●It is a single portal connected to all the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and States. ●Every Ministry and State have role-based access to this system. It is also accessible to the citizens through a standalone mobile application.

Ranking

• Based on the index scores, each organisation is assigned a rank within its group.
• The ranking helps in identifying the best-performing organisations as well as those that need improvement.
• The ranking serves as a benchmark for comparison and learning among organisations.

Key Findings: Some of the key findings from GRAI 2022 are:

• The Department of Posts topped the ranking in Group A with an index score of 86.67 out of 100, followed by UIDAI with 85.83.
• In Group B, the Department of Financial Services (Pension Reforms) grabbed the No.1 rank with an index score of 88.33, followed by the Department of Legal Affairs with 86.67.
• Department of Land Resources and Department of Pharmaceuticals secured First and Second positions respectively in Group C with index scores of 90.83 and 90.
• The average disposal time for Central Ministries/Departments has reduced from 32 days in 2021 to 18 days in 2023.
• The adoption of CPGRAMS reforms has resulted in a significant decrease in the average time for grievance disposal.
• The feedback rate has increased from 9% in 2021 to 15% in 2023.
• The average feedback rating has improved from 3.6 out of 5 in 2021 to 3.8 out of 5 in 2023.

Conclusion

• GRAI 2022 is a pioneering initiative by DARPG to assess and improve the grievance redressal mechanism in the Central Ministries and Departments. It is expected to enhance the efficiency, accountability and accessibility of the grievance redressal process, benefiting citizens and improving public service delivery. It is also hoped that GRAI 2022 will inspire and motivate organisations to adopt best practices and innovations in grievance redressal and foster a culture of citizen-centric governance.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1934147