Supporting the government’s efforts to promote digitalisation, the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has launched the “City of Patna” mobile application to enable citizens to report their grievances and other civic issues. The app, launched in October 2018, provides a facility to residents to submit their complaints and track their status thereafter.
Addressing issue via app
To register a complaint on the app, the resident has to select the location where the issue has occurred and upload a picture along with a brief description of the problem and the category into which it falls. The complaints, once posted, are received by a combat cell constituted to monitor complaints. The cell then forwards the complaint to the concerned city manager, executive officers and sanitary inspector of the area for taking corrective action. Proper feedback on the complaint is provided to the complainant and the progress can be tracked with the help of a reference number generated while registering the complaint.
PMC has set a turnaround time of 24 hours to address reported issues. Further, with a view to achieving timely resolution and ensuring that there is no laxity on the part of the authority, the complaint and its resolution process are monitored directly by senior civic officials. The app covers all civic issues, including those related to garbage and drainage, malfunctioning of street lights, encroachments and illegal construction. PMC is also likely to soon add the door-to-door garbage collection scheme to the app. Besides, the app will have the contact details of the sanitary inspectors. This will enable citizens to directly contact the inspectors for sanitation-related issues or non-resolution of such complaints.
The mobile app has also been integrated with the Swachhata App of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). This will help the corporation score more points in Swachh Survekshan 2019, based on the number of complaints posted by residents on the app and their resolution in the minimum time span.
App on the go
After the failure of the Apna Patna app launched by the Bihar state Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) in December 2015, the new mobile app has received an overwhelming response from city residents. Over 10,000 residents have registered on the mobile app and as of December 2018, around 600 grievances had been registered, mostly related to street lights, sanitation issues or removal of dead animals. PMC has successfully resolved over 90 per cent of these complaints. Meanwhile, the corporation is continuously making efforts to make the mobile app a success and is planning to reward people who motivate others to use it.
Conclusion
The City of Patna app has provided a platform for the resolution of civic issues at the earliest and encourages citizens to contribute to city development. The app has facilitated the registration of complaints and helped red-flag neglect by municipal officials in addressing public issues. With this, PMC has taken a step forward towards achieving its primary goal of reaching out to the people and resolving their civic issues, along with improving the city’s ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2019. A satisfactory response to the app and PMC’s efforts towards timely resolution of public issues are likely to yield positive results for the city, making it a cleaner and smarter place for residents.