KATHMANDU, Aug 18: In what can be taken as waning public trust in the government, Hello Sarkar, a national hotline set up to hear public grievances, has been receiving fewer complaints every passing year.
In the fiscal year 2014/15, the hotline received record low 5,222 complaints.In the fiscal year 2011/12, the year the hotline was set up by then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, it received 14,095 complaints, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). But the hotline has been receiving fewer complaints every passing year.
In the fiscal year 2012/13, the hotline, received 8,972 complaints, which is 5,123 less than the number of complaints it received in the fiscal year 2011/12. Likewise, the hotline received 7,003 complaints in the fiscal year 2013/14.
The hotline received altogether 35,292 complaints in the four years since it was set up in 2011. It had received 4,269 complaints in the first five months of its establishment.
If the decrease in the number of complaints is anything to go by, it indicates that public trust in the government is waning though it claims it has been settling 95 per cent of complaints received through Hello Sarkar.
Officials at the PMO argued that lackadaisical response to public grievances has discouraged people from registering their complaints.
Shanta Raj Subedi, secretary at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), who supervises the hotline, admitted that the hotline has been receiving fewer complaints lately.
He argued that the number of complaints have decreased in the recent months as other government offices have also set up their own hotline using other social media tools such as Facebook. "Many people are directly lodging their grievances with the concerned authorities. So, it appears like the hotline is receiving fewer complaints," added he.
He said as another hotline service was set up at the home ministry after the earthquake, the OPMCM did not receive all the complaints. "This is why the number of complaints it received in the last fiscal year has been low," he said.
He said the OPMCM is making preparations to expand Hello Sarkar to other areas of the country as it has lately been losing popularity due to the slow response.
Two months ago, the OPMCM office even opened Facebook page of Hello Sarkar to help people post their grievances and suggestions directly through the social media. But the page has not been of much help. As of now, it has received 310 complaints, informed Secretary Subedi.