Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh launched Ombudsperson App for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA today. Addressing the launching event the Minister said that the Ombudsperson App is a step towards e-governance, this will be helpful in ensuring transparency and accountability.
Expressing concern over the appointments of Ombudspersons, Shri Giriraj Sigh said that the appointment of Ombudsperson has not yet been made in many districts. It has also come to notice that persons belonging to political parties were appointed. The Minister also requested all the States/UTs to cooperate with the central government in making MNREGA more transparent by using the Ombudsperson App.
Ministry of Rural Development has developed an Ombudsperson App for smooth reporting and categorization of grievances by Ombudsperson based on complaints he received from various sources viz. physical, digital and mass media, related to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme in the States/UTs.
At present, the reporting of complaints, passing awards and disposal of complaints are in physical form. For the smooth reporting of complaints, passing awards and quick disposal of complaints Ombudsperson App is developed. This will strengthen Ombudsperson in the discharge of her/his duty in a hassle-free manner. After joining of Ombudsperson, the Registration of Ombudsperson is done by the State. On registration, Ombudsperson will use the User name and password to use this App.
The app will enable easy tracking and timely passing of awards by Ombudsperson on each case as per the guidelines. Ombudsperson can also easily upload the quarterly and annual reports on the website through the app.
The app will help the ombudsperson to a greater extent in discharging her/his duty towards transparency and accountability. Also, smooth disposal of the grievances in a time-bound manner with minimal support of further human resources will be possible through the app.
Union Minister of States for Rural Development and Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Rural Development Secretary Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, Joint Secretary (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) Shri Rohit Kumar and officers from the Ministry were present on the occasion. All the State/UTs Governments and Ombudspersons of Districts across the nation attended the launching event through Video-Conferencing.