THE previous government had launched the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal (PCP) in order to enable people to lodge their complaints for speedy redressal of their problems. That purpose, however, was never served the way one expected it to, or the way one was made to expect it to. It has failed me more than it has helped me.

I would like to share the most recent example. The other day, I went to the District Complex at Mandi Bahauddin for some work. I used the public lavatory there, and found it to be in a dismal, unacceptable condition. There was no cleanliness, the water taps were broken, and there was no soap available for washing one’s hands.

I lodged a complaint with the PCP against the administration as it was its duty to keep the facility functional with at least baseline cleanliness. It took 12 days before my application was forwarded to the area deputy commissioner (DC), who then forwarded it to relevant municipal authorities, which then returned the application to DC office, with the note that the provision of soap and ensuring cleanliness of the lavatories inside the District Complex did not fall under their jurisdiction.

Then the application was forwarded by the DC to additional deputy commissioner (ADC) (General) with the direction to immediately take action on the complaint. Instead of doing that, the ADC (General) forwarded it to the assistant commissioner (AC) to take care of the matter. As could only be expected, the AC followed in the footsteps of his senior officers and sent the complaint back to the DC office, ‘requesting’ that the application may be forwarded to the ‘department concerned’.

In order to keep my mental peace, I found it appropriate to delete the PCP application from my phone as it was not the first time I had experienced the red-tape and lethargic behaviour of public servants through the PCP. Needless to say, the condition of the lavatory has remained unchanged.

One hopes the government would ensure that this initiative, which was, in principle, a good one, actually serves the purpose for which it was conceived.

Asad Hayat Warraich
Gujrat

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2022