On June 1 this year, the state government had issued a government resolution (GR) declaring that on third Monday every month Janata Din will be held where ordinary people will be able to lodge their complaints against the functioning of government and semi-government offices before a collective audience comprising senior officials from various departments.

While most of the complaints received by the Collector's office spoke about the lacunae in the functioning of police department, no officials from the Police Commissioner's office was present at the meet.

Though he expected to be inundated with angry complaints, the new Collector (City) DebashishChakravorty, who was presiding over the proceedings, could breathe easy as the day progressed. The doors were open for complainants between 10 am to 5 pm.

Chakravorty, who took over the reins from Sanjay Chahandr on June 17, attributed the poor response to the greater `awareness' of the public. ``People in urban centres like Mumbai generally know where to get their complaints redressed. They directly approach the concerned department or body. So it will take a while before they get used to the idea that they can walk into a Collector's office every third Monday of a month and unload their problems.'' He emphasised in cities it is not too often that the Collector's office interacts with people directly, unlike in the rural or semi-urban areas.

Officials present at the meet included P Y Deshmukh, executive engineer from Public Works Department (PWD), a deputy municipal commissioner, officials from Brihanmumbai Electric supply and Transport (BEST), the Collector, the resident deputy collector and deputyregistrar of co-operative societies.

Briefing the reporters later, Chakravorty informed that the two complainants were Meera Padte, a resident of Peddar Road and Prabhakar Nene from Dadar. While Padte complained that though she owned her flat she was threatened with eviction and the local police have not been helpful at all. Nene on the other hand was peeved about the hawkers menace on Dadar bridge. According to him, the hawkers were under control when the railway police were in charge of the bridge, however with the city police taking over a few years ago, their number has multiplied.

Chakravorty expressed hope that the Janata Din would serve its purpose of solving people's problems within a month. ``It would not result in assurances alone,'' he assured about the forum.

Meanwhile, the Thane Collectorate too kicked off the Janata Din where 11 senior officials from various departments were present to attend 25 complainants.

The maximum complaints (12) were regrading the Collector'soffice itself relating to non-availabitly of land records, removal of encroachments, survey and transfer of title. There were two complaints about the police department, one each on water supply, ration shop, PWD, the Thane Municipal Corporation and the Badlapur-Kulgaon Municipal Council. One complaint was recived about the establishment department and one was even a case of extortion! Unlike other districts in the state Thane has four corporations and 10 councils. Hence, a lot of complaints will be in the jurisdiction of the civic bodies. "We will accept the complaints and forward them to the respective local self government for processing," informed Thane Collector Mukesh Khullar.