Maharashtra revenue offices to hold daily 3-5 pm citizen meeting hours
A September 9 government order makes it mandatory for revenue officers across Maharashtra to be available to the public every afternoon
Citizens visiting revenue offices in Gondia district and across Maharashtra will no longer have to wait for hours to meet an officer. The state Revenue and Forest Department issued a government order on September 9 making it mandatory for all offices from the district collector down to the tehsildar to keep every day from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm reserved for meeting the public.
The decision was taken to ensure that complaints and problems of citizens are resolved quickly at the local level. The state government takes several policy decisions through the revenue department, and revenue offices at the taluka, district and division level deal directly with the public. However, it has often been observed that officers or staff at local offices are not available on time, which means complaints go unheard. This forces aggrieved citizens to travel all the way to the state secretariat in Mumbai. The government has taken this decision keeping this in mind.
The circular is expected to increase transparency in local revenue offices and strengthen public trust in the administration. Farmers, ordinary citizens and students will no longer have to wait for hours for officers over small tasks or complaints.
The order applies to all revenue officers, including the district collector, deputy collector, sub-divisional officer (SDO), tehsildar and naib tehsildar. All of them will have to keep 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm reserved on working days to meet citizens and hear their complaints.
No internal meetings or video conferencing will be permitted during this fixed time, so that officers can devote the entire period to citizens. A board displaying this reserved time must be put up at the office's main gate and outside the concerned officer's room, in a place clearly visible to all.
If an officer cannot be present in the office during this time due to essential government work, a scheduled tour or a high-level meeting, prior notice of this must be put up on the notice board. In such a case, it is also mandatory to appoint another competent officer to receive applications from citizens.
