Background
Bihar had a system of Public Hearings known as Janta Durbar where the Hon’ble Chief Minister, other Ministers and bureaucrats right down to the Block Level took cognizance of people’s complaints. While the system was robust — especially after the introduction of an award-winning IT infrastructure and software — the outstanding issue was one of complainants returning repeatedly to the Janata Durbars. A small minority of complainants stated that their complaints were not redressed even though official records listed them as “Disposed”.
Aim and Objectives
Viewing public grievances from the perspective of the citizens, the Government of Bihar decided that its focus would be on the redressal of genuinely redressable grievances. The Government aimed to completely re-engineer the process rather than merely improve efficiency of earlier systems. Learning from the success of the Bihar Right to Public Services Act, the Government concluded that a legal right supported by an independent institutional structure was essential to ensure actual grievance redressal instead of procedural disposal.
The Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act, 2015 was thus enacted. This Act ensures a legal right for complainants to receive an opportunity for hearing and redressal within a maximum time limit of 60 working days. The law created a new cadre of independent quasi-judicial officers who function as neutral instruments of the Government without prejudice either to the complainant or the responsible public authority.
This legal right completes the three essential pillars of good governance:
- Right to Information
- Right to Public Services
- Right to Public Grievance Redressal
Failure to comply with the mandate attracts penalties and disciplinary action against concerned Public Grievance Redressal Officers (PGROs) or Public Authorities. The Act also provides two levels of Appeals followed by a Revision mechanism to ensure justice and accountability.
Coverage
The Act covers the entire State of Bihar encompassing all administrative units and public programmes. It ensures universal accessibility and inclusiveness in grievance registration.
- Coverage across all 38 districts and 534 blocks of Bihar
- Applicable to 514 programmes, plans and schemes
- Implemented through 45 departments of the Government of Bihar
- No pre-qualification required for registering a grievance
- No applicant is turned away irrespective of the genuineness or otherwise of the grievance
Implementation
Independent quasi-judicial Public Grievance Redressal Officers (PGROs) were carefully selected and deployed across the State. Every Sub-Division, District and Department was equipped with citizen-friendly infrastructure, hardware and software systems along with trained IT Executives.
A strong IT infrastructure connects all PGROs, key public authorities, appellate authorities and monitoring agencies. Citizens are provided 24×7 access for grievance registration and tracking of records. The entire process from registration to redressal is digitized and accessible online.
The Bihar Prashasanik Sudhar Mission Society (BPSMS) functions as the nodal agency for implementation and monitoring. Continuous innovations have been introduced and complainants can now register grievances through mobile applications as well.
Monitoring
BPSMS was also designated as the nodal agency for monitoring outcomes and performance. Initially, monitoring focused on timeliness, infrastructure availability and human resource deployment. Independent micro-evaluation studies were commissioned through the Governance Technical Assistance Support Team funded by DFID to identify implementation bottlenecks and improve sustainability.
For long-term sustainability, the Government of Bihar incorporated funding for BPSMS within the regular State budget within a few months, thereby eliminating dependence on initial external support.
Achievements (Till February 2026)
0
Complaints Registered (in Lacs)
0
Disposed Complaints (in Lacs)
Much of the remaining complaints are pending within the prescribed time limit. Efficiency measured as disposal of cases within time stands at 98.2%. Effectiveness, measured as successful grievance redressal at the first instance at PGRO level, stands at about 97.68%. When cases satisfactorily settled at the First Appeal level are included, effectiveness increases to nearly 98%.
Citizen satisfaction during final hearings has been recorded at 96.87%. Approximately 10% of complainants proceed to appeal. Several long-pending grievances have been resolved, including one case pending for 36 years.
Awards and Recognition
- Kalam Innovation in Governance Award (KIGA) – 2018
- Finalist in National e-Governance Award – 2018
- Order of Merit – 52nd Skoch Summit
- Certificate of Distinction by CAPAM during International Innovation Awards 2018 at Georgetown, Guyana