Hello Sarkar

Finally, the much-awaited control room, set up with an aim to address public grievances of all sorts, has come into operation from Thursday. Hello Sarkar (government), perhaps the first of its kind in Nepal, is expected to facilitate the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) to keep an unhindered access to the public, who have long felt neglected by the state and whose concerns are, more often than not, not heard – let alone addressed. Under the circumstances, the idea of Hello Sarkar has generated a ray of hope among the public. And we wholeheartedly welcome the idea.



That said, however, we are also equally mindful of the fact that such a mechanism is not without weaknesses and hurdles. First, the control room does not seem to be well-equipped with functioning tools.  The first call the prime minister received on the inauguration day had a poor sound delivery: The caller’s voice was not audible enough either because of technical snag or substandard telephone set. Second comes the issue of responding to the queries and concerns that flood the control room. Just on Thursday the control room officials had to receive about 300 phone calls and more than 70 complaints from people across the country. It is likely that the number of calls and complaints will multiply by hundreds in the days ahead. Will the control room officials be able to receive all calls and address them to the satisfaction of the complainants? This is the key question.



Needless to say, the people have hundreds and thousands of grievances to report to OPMCM. The public has a score of issues to report to the government from trivialities (such as why Bhadrakali-Maitighar road is not yet open for public use) to real public grievances such as price hike in essential commodity and petroleum, transportation fare and so on. The control room will, therefore, have to adroitly sort out the most genuine ones from the rest and then seriously address them assuring quick action. However, this is easier said than done, as there will be scores of complaints, and every complainant feels his/her problem to be the most urgent and wishes to be heard promptly.



Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has tried to come closer to the public through the radio program “prime minister with the people” on Radio Nepal and has earned accolades for the initiative. Hello Sarkar, if implemented well, will be another effective tool to bridge up the gap between country’s populace and the government. We do not doubt the prime minister’s sincere intention, but without proper management and prompt response, Hello Sarkar bears all the risks of becoming just a publicity travesty. This is precisely what OPMCM must not allow Hello Sarkar to be. Hence, this new mechanism will have to be carefully operated and handled.

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