Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan MNA, inaugurated the complaint centre at the office of City District Government Rawalpindi on 24th June 2008 at 3 pm. In his inaugural speech, he appreciated the assistance of TI-Pakistan in setting of this centre. He said that the Punjab Government will see the benefits to the citizens of Rawalpindi and will set up such centres in all the districts of Punhab.
Mr Syed Adil Gilani, Chairman TI-Pakistan in his address congratulated the District Cooordination Officer Rawalpindi for his initiative to start the first e-complaint centre in the Province of Punjab. The e-complaint centre is being set up in collaboration with Transparency International Pakistan and sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC).
The DCO Rawalpindi, Syed Jamal Mustafa thanked Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Transparency International Pakistan and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to have come to the assistance of CDGR at such a short notice. He said that the CDGR will endeavor to make the complaint centre popular amongst the resident of the district. He said that the city government will begin a mass awareness campaign so that the citizens become aware of the centre. He said the working of the city government will become more transparent and accountable.
TI-Pakistan has developed the necessary software based on the SQL open source platform for the City District Government Rawalpindi. The staff of the city government will be imparted training by TI-Pakistan’s IT experts. Residents living in the city district will be able to lodge their complaints regarding service deliveries through the internet, phone or by visiting the complaint centre.
This complaint centre has been developed under the ‘OPEN’ system or Online Procedures Enhancement for civil applications to achieve transparency in the city administration by reducing unnecessary delays or prevent unjust handling of civil affairs. The web based OPEN system allows citizens to keep an eye on how applications are dealt with especially in the area where irregularities are most likely to occur.
The complaint cell will help in continuous monitoring of the functions of the city district government, particularly with reference to redress of public grievances and complaints. The new facility for the public is based on the framework of guiding principles and practices aimed at ensuring highest standards of efficiency, integrity, accountability and transparency in governance.
This is going to be the first TIP online complaint centre in the Punjab province. TI-Pakistan had earlier assisted the Gulshan Town and the North Nazimabad Town of the CDGK to set up such e-complaint centers in their towns. Observing the success of this pilot centers, the City District Government Karachi set up such centers in CGGK and all the 18 towns of Karachi.