Bengaluru: Greater Bengaluru Authority is planning Sahaaya 3.0, an upgraded version of its grievance-redressal system, with citizen groups calling for simpler complaint filing, automatic routing, timely status updates and greater accountability of officials.GBA held a consultation with residents’ representatives at its office Wednesday. Sahaaya was launched in 2016 and upgraded as Sahaaya 2.0 in 2020. The system currently brings together 31 departments and urban service agencies through 34 channels, including the Namma Bengaluru app, helpline and WhatsApp.Data accessed by Rishvanjas Raghavan, policy consultant with GBA, showed that electrical issues, particularly streetlights, accounted for the highest number of complaints under Sahaaya 2.0 at 4,15,334, followed by solid waste management at 3,39,808 and road maintenance at 1,65,122.According to Janaagraha’s Vivekanand Kotikalapudi, citizens recommended making Sahaaya a single front door for govt services, so that they do not have to identify the department or ward responsible for their complaint. They also called for automatic routing of complaints, timely status updates, updated officer details and stronger accountability for officials.Citizens also called for integration with WhatsApp, including a chatbot that can accept voice-based complaints, along with acknowledgement and status updates. The system should allow multiple photographs, GPS-based location capture and map-based tracking of open complaints. Participants also sought updated officer contact details and greater accountability, including public dashboards, ward ratings and recognition for well-performing officers.Bengaluru development minister Krishna Byre Gowda said Sahaaya had already been improved over the past two months and that more interventions were being considered to make it more citizen-friendly.Byre Gowda also said he had instructed officials that work payments should be generated based on progress reflected on the portal. He cautioned against creating multiple apps for different civic services, saying the govt could instead incorporate useful ideas into existing systems. “Day in and day out, many people write to me with proposals of softwares and apps. They think we do not know anything. They are well-intentioned, but they are unaware of the complexity of the system,” he said.
