Government of Bihar taking a strong step towards administrative reforms, gave a legal right to the citizens for redressal of their grievances. This was achieved through the Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act, 2015. This Act was launched on June 05, 2016 on the Sampoorna Kranti Diwas.BRPGRA aims to empower citizens by giving them a legal right of their complaints to be heard, redressed and of communication on the decision taken.

Salient Features of the Act

• Opportunity for the complaint to be heard and redressed within a timelimit of 60 days.
• More than 475 schemes / programmes / services from all 44 Departments of the State Government covered under the Act. Public Authority responsible for the redressal of each of the scheme / programme / service notified.
• Complaints can be filed at the Grievance Receiving Counters (at Sub-Division, District or State HQ level), or through toll free number, web-portal, email, mobile app, post.
• Independent authority with quasi-judicial powers called Public Grievance Redressal Officer (PGRO) conduct hearings on the complaint filed and based on facts made available by both the parties, take decision and pass orders.
• Decision taken on the complaint is communicated to both the parties.
• Provision of penalty (Rs. 500 – 5000) and disciplinary action in case of failure to adhere to the responsibilities as mandated by the Act.

Scope of this Act

• Complaint means any relief / benefit sought from the Government of Bihar run schemes / programmes / services.
• This Act covers the entire State of Bihar and 478 programmes/plans/schemes notified by 44 departments of the Bihar government
• Service matters, Right to Information, Right to Public Service and Court matters are not covered under this Act. Complainant is informed about the competent authority for complaints related to these issues.