Upalokayukta Justice K.N .Phaneendra urged government officials to be transparent and dedicated in discharging their responsibilities as public servants.
He was speaking before receiving grievances from the public over shortcomings in service delivery. Mr. Phaneendra said that though there may be thousands of litigations pending before the courts and the departments, the officials should bear in mind that as for as the individual petitioner is concerned, it is the only case and hence each petition should be treated with utmost urgency and sincerity to ensure prompt justice.
He said the concept of Lokayukta was not only to crack down on corruption but to ensure that nobody was deprived of benefits due to shortcomings of the bureaucracy. In case there was violation the judiciary was bound to intervene, said Mr. Phaneendra.
The focus of Lokayukta was to identify dereliction of duty which results in deprival of justice and hence officials should be cautious and considerate in their public dealings, he added.
He said the complaints received by the office of the Lokayukta is dispatched to the departmental officers concerned and in case the issue was beyond the jurisdictional authority of the Lokayukta, the complainant would be suitably advised to take it up with the courts. But he also pointed out that there were a few habitual litigants and in case the complaint was found to be false, then there was provision under the law to sentence such persons and the punishment was six months jail term, Mr. Phaneendra added.
So far, public grievances have been received in 7 districts and Mysuru was the eighth district being covered by the Upalokayukta. There were scores of petitioners at the Mysuru Zilla Panchayat premises where the Upalokayuta heard the grievances. V. Channakeshava Reddy, Deputy Registrar, E-quiries, Mysuru ZP CEO K.M. Gayatri, Additional DC Kavita Rajaram and senior district and taluk officials were present.
The Upalokayukta team will also have a meeting and interaction with judicial officers of Mysuru District and the District Court Complex on Sunday on the subject of the ‘Role of Lokayukta Institution and Legal Services Authority in Public Administration’. This will be followed by meeting with Lokayukta police officers while on Monday there will be meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru. A few pending complaints and those which could not resolved on Saturday, would be heard again in a bid to bring a closure to them, on Monday.
In the event the cases could not be heard on Monday for lack of time, they will be taken up on Tuesday from 10 a.m.
