Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Sep 30: The Karnataka government has made Aadhaar e-KYC mandatory for recording complainants’ details under the recently launched Praja Seva Abhiyaana (PSA), aimed at ensuring time-bound redressal of public grievances. Complaints must be uploaded on the Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (iPGRS) within two days of submission.
The government also plans to digitise handwritten complaints using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with officials verifying the converted text.
Principal secretary, Prajaseva Department, Harsh Gupta, issued a directive to all deputy commissioners, asking them to ensure strict compliance.
In a circular to the DCs, Gupta said personal details of complainants, including their names, contact numbers and addresses, had not been properly recorded at PSA Janasamparka Sabhas held earlier this month. Henceforth, such details should be collected through Aadhaar e-KYC by default.
Biometric devices should be available at Janasamparka Sabha venues to facilitate OTP- and biometric-based authentication. If Aadhaar cards are unavailable or complainants refuse to provide them, their petitions will be accepted manually.
Noting that grievances were not being properly recorded, with key information and supporting documents often missing, Gupta said counters at Janasamparka Sabhas should have senior officers, preferably gram panchayat-level nodal officers. Experienced NGO staff and retired government officials may also be considered.
“Efforts are on to receive handwritten applications from citizens, scan them as OCR pdf and convert them into typed format using AI, subject to correction by data entry operators,’’ he said.
Gupta said applications received during Janasamparka Sabhas in some districts were being registered on iPGRS only after several days. He directed that master data on Sabhas scheduled from next Saturday for three months be uploaded to the software without delay.
Unless this master data is entered, the software will not allow data entry operators to select the Sabha venues.