Policy Update
Vidhi Jhakmola
1 Background
On 5th June 2007, The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances under The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions launched the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) with the objective of establishing a transparent and efficient mechanism through which citizens can 24×7 lodge their grievances to the public authorities on any subject related to service delivery. CPGRAMS aims to promote transparency, responsiveness and accountability in the governance by providing a single window system for redressal across Central ministries, Departments and State governments. The CPGRAMS is a fundamental of the administrative commitment of “Maximum Governance, Minimum Government.”
CPGRAMS allows citizens to lodge their grievances online, track the status, receive responses and provide feedback regarding the resolution in real-time. Since its inception CPGRAMS has gone through various reforms including the 10-step reforms which included Universalization of CPGRAMS 7.0, Technological Enhancements using AI/ML, Language Translation of CPGRAMS portal into 22 Scheduled languages, operationalization of Grievance Redressal Index, operationalization of a Feedback Call Centre, One Nation One Portal by integration of State Portal/Other Grievance Portals of Government of India with CPGRAMS etc.
2 Objectives of CPGRAMS
- Facilitate speedy redressal through effective and efficient monitoring of grievances.
- Function as an Integrated platform: access to all state and central government departments.
- Replace the previous decentralised, manual, fragmented mechanism used for handling public complaints.
- Reduce Timelines: The grievance redressal must be completed within 21 days thus reducing the timeline.
- Accountability: Enhances responsiveness and transparency by creating an official record and follow-up process for public issues.
(According to ministry of personnel, public Grievance and pensions)
TIMELINE
The CPGRAMS experienced many subsequent updates after its inception in 2007. One of the most important reforms occurred in 2020 which was the 10-step reform system with the aim to “reach out to the last man in the last queue with all the benefits of the Welfare Schemes.” (PIB,2020)
The 10-step reforms included-
• Universalization of CPGRAMS 7.0
• Technological Enhancements using AI/ML
• Language Translation of CPGRAMS portal into 22 Scheduled languages
• operationalization of Grievance Redressal Index
• operationalization of a Feedback Call Centre
•One Nation One Portal by integration of State Portal/Other Grievance Portals of the government of India with CPGRAMS
• Inclusivity and outreach with availability of CPGRAMS in all Common Service Centres
• Training and Capacity Building of Grievance Redressal Officers under the sevottam scheme
• publishing monthly reports for Central Ministries/Departments and States/UT’s
• Establishment of a Data Strategy Unit for data analytics.
Figure 2: 10-step CPGRAMS Reforms
Source- PIB
3 Functioning
The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances acts as the key coordinator in the CPGRAMS. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances forwards the raised grievance to the concerned ministry/department. Further, the task of redressal of grievances is dealt by the concerned ministry in a “decentralised manner”. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances intermittently reviews the status of grievances under the CPGRAMS to ensure efficiency and timely redressal by ministries.
Figure 3: CPGRAMS Process Flow
Source: National Informatics centre
4 Performance
The CPGRAMS over the years has demonstrated measurable improvements in grievance disposal and monitoring with approximately 73,000 active subordinate users. CPGRAMS provides a seamless platform that links 92 Central Ministries, Departments, and Organisations with 36 States/UTs. With 96,295 registered organisations, CPGRAMS has greatly enhanced service delivery and community involvement. As of October 31, 2024, the system has mapped 1,03,183 Grievance Redressal Officers (GROs) as seen in figure:4 and allowed the resolution of 70,03,533 grievances between 2022 and 2024.
Figure:4 Increase in number of GROs from 2019 to 2024
Source: CPGRAMS Annual Report 2024
According to trends, the Grievances received by The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances have seen a rise in the year 2024 in comparison to previous years, indicating a positive trend (as seen in figure: 5). Further, an upward trend can be seen in the number of registered users on the CPGRAMS portal. (As indicated in figure: 6)
Figure:5 Increase in number of grievances received from 2019 to 2024
Source: CPGRAMS Annual Report 2024
Figure 6: Increase in the number of registered users from 2019 to 2024
Source: CPGRAMS Annual Report 2024
Altogether, the performance of the CPGRAMS reflects the improvement and strengthening of India’s public grievance redressal system and digital India initiative. This improvement is evident through the rising grievance registrations and user participation reflecting the trust of citizens and enhanced institutional capacity.
5 Impact
Figure:7 CPGRAMS Trends over the years
Source: PIB
The CPGRAMS has significantly strengthened the citizen engagement following the commitment of “Maximum Governance, Minimum Government” by making the grievance redressal system more efficient and transparent. The number of grievances received increased from 18.67 lakhs in 2019 to 24.48 lakhs in 2024 indicating increased public trust in government machinery. Further, the average grievance closing time has notably reduced from 28 days to 12 days reflecting enhanced efficiency. A similar trend of rise in user registrations is seen from 3.43 lakh to 7.44 lakhs.
Some notable situational impacts as mentioned in the Annual report of 2024 CPGRAMS are Grievance of Dr. K. V. Babu – Misleading homeopathic “Insulin Tablets”, Grievance of Shri Rashpal Singh – Restoration of Disability Pension and Payment of Arrears, Grievance of Shri Babu Lal Meena – Closure of fake loan accounts, Grievance of Smt. Alpana Khatun – Delay in Sarkari Ujjwala Gas Connection and Grievance of Shri. Bijoy Kumar Barik – Delay in Pre-Closure/NOC Issuance for Loan Transfer etc.
Overall, the system has proven effective in addressing citizens’ grievances with swift resolutions and improved public safety.
6 Emerging issues
The CPGRAMS has produced striking results in the arena of grievance redressal mechanisms. However, these results are not free from issues, few of the issues in CPGRAMS are mentioned below-
Low digital literacy: A very large number of the Indian population is still unable to operate digitally due to the lack of digital literacy making the CPGRAMS inaccessible to about 38% of the Indian households.
Overlapping with other mechanisms: Occasionally, CPGRAMS duplicates or overlaps the grievance with other sector specific grievance systems like Principal Nodal Officer, different Ombudsman, Consumer Forums, Financial Market Regulators complaint management system etc.
Technical glitches: website glitches are also another emerging issue that holds CPGRAMS from working at its full potential. Solving the issue of technical glitches would require a better digital infrastructure backing the government services.
Centralized governance might hold back local responses required.
7 Way forward
CPGRAMS has been a major underpinning of participatory and citizen-centric governance. Going forward the integration of AI-driven systems through the IndiaAI mission can further strengthen the grievance redressal model by reducing delays and glitches. Some strategies that can be adopted for the enhancement of CPGRAMS include AI-driven models, better digital infrastructure, digital literacy campaigns, an unambiguous division mechanism, enhanced categorisation of grievances etc.
In the vision of a citizen-centric “New India” based upon the “maximum governance minimum government” ideals CPGRAMS must evolve from a reactive platform to a proactive one.
References
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2088830®=3&lang=2
https://www.taxtmi.com/article/detailed?id=9665
About the Contributor
Vidhi Jakhmola is a research and editorial intern at IMPRI and a second-year undergraduate student pursuing Political Science (Hons) with a minor in Economics at Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi.
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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