| Address: Nanmaveedu, Maniyathrikkal Thrichatukulam road, Thycattussery, Cherthala, Ker |
The Kerala Water Authority grievance redressal portal is not working since yesterday evening.
I submitted a grievance on 25 Oct 2021; reference no. 12925S. I had clearly mentioned about the rude behavior of the staff at the Cherthala office. I have not received any response clarifying actions taken. Even on the online portal, I could only see reference to awaiting consent from PWD. Are Government staff authorised to abuse and accuse consumers? One of the contract staff claiming to be appointed by Water Authority arrived at my doorstep yesterday and literally threatened me like "I shall show you". And then, I received a call from [protected] accusing me of misusing my political contacts. Pardon me for the harsh words but, I challenge Water Authority to prove my so called political contacts. On the other side, I can clearly prove the inefficiency of your staff at Cherthala office only by describing how I managed to obtain water connection through JJM. This mission as far as I know is a program driven by the Central government and completely funded by them as well. Why does the staff assume they are the godmothers? In response to this grievance, I definitely want to know two things:
- what are the behavioral programs you have for your staff before you allow them to face customers
- what action will be taken on the three inefficient staff. I am calling out their names - Ms. Sindhu, Ms. Sreeja and Ms. Limitha (contract staff)
Madam Sindhu seems to be under a false belief that she becomes superior to all as she has secured a job in Government sector. Can someone correct this misunderstanding? Or is she authorised to misbehave and illtreat the citizens of India just because she is employed by the government of a state in India?
Let me explain the ordeal I went through. I have been in touch with Ms. Limitha from July 2021. She kept misguiding me with incorrect information every time. Finally Ms. Sreeja called me and asked me to pay approx. Rs. 25, 000. I wanted to know why I am denied the benefits of JJM - a mission driven and sponsored by the Central government. I had taken a friendly help from one of the ward members in the Panchayat for a clarification on this point. He helped me reach Mr. Chandradas at Water Authority Cherthala. Thereafter, we made several visits to the Water Authority and PWD offices. The facts to prove inefficiency
- all discussions were to include our request for connection in the JJM. They send the forms to the PWD (as it involves cutting across a newly laid road) without mentioning JJM. PWD had rejected the petition on the very next day stating road cannot be cut during lock-in period; excuse me if I am not using the right terms, but you can understand what I mean. The staff at Water Authority told us that there is no response from PWD and made us go there. If they had logged in to the system, they could have spotted it days ago and corrected it.
The corrected application was submitted and PWD gave their consent along with the quotation on security amount to cut across the road. The next step was to get approval from the divisional office in Alappuzha. The same story repeated - the documents were sent without a copy of the quotation from PWD. Division office had rejected it on the very next day. This time Ms. Sreeja gave incorrect information as "no response from division office" for a month. She has been giving the same wrong update to Mr. Chandradas as well who heads the department at Cherthala.
As a desperate consumer, we went in person to the division office in Alappuzha (approx. 50kms) to find out that the application was rejected a month ago. Explanation for this is - "this is a recent process change and the staff at Cherthala were not trained or informed about this".
The staff at the division office were highly supportive. They contacted the Cherthala office and gave step-by-step instructions on actions required. Within the next few days, the funds were allocated and we received a call from division office confirming it.
Next day, we went in person to the Cherthala office only to again realise, the staff are still the same. They claimed non-receipt of funds, no staff to visit the Treasury office to make the payment, no staff to complete online process to inform PWD about the payment, etc.
In the next few days, we were finally informed about the water connection. We received it on 14th Jan 2022; after 6 long months.
The meter was still not fixed. We then followed up with the Cherthala office a few times and finally the meter was fixed only after we said we are going ahead with connecting to the plumbing lines at home. Meter unavailability was the reason this time.
Point to note is I am still not a consumer in your system - around a week back, Ms. Limitha had come and asked for the documents. I had kept it ready on 14th Jan and she did not collect them though I waited the entire day. As we had recently shifted to a new home, I misplaced the copies and I told her I will keep them ready when she comes next. She arrived yesterday without any prior notice and I missed to arrange the copies. I clearly told her, I will arrange the copies and either call her or shall submit it to her in person. She wanted me to immediately arrange it and I denied as I cannot step out during my working hours. I work for a reputed corporate company and I hold a responsible profile too. She then demanded to see my Aadhar card in original. I questioned her for her rude language and behavior. I then took out my Aadhar card but she did not want to see it as she was busy talking on phone. Within minutes, I received the next abusive call from Ms. Sindhu accusing me o[censored]sing political influence, showing arrogance to Government staff, not cooperating with authorities and what not. I disconnected the call as there is absolutely no point talking to someone who has decided she is superior to all only because she secured a Government job. I tried calling Mr. Chandradas but his number was switched off. Within minutes, the President of our Panchayat arrived at my home, the ward member calls me. All this because I missed to take a photocopy of my Aadhar card within a week from their notice. What about the months of no service that I had to bear with?
I am repeating the actions required in response to this
- what are the behavioral programs you have for your staff before you allow them to face customers
- what action will be taken on the three inefficient staff. I am calling out their names again - Ms. Sindhu, Ms. Sreeja and Ms. Limitha (contract staff)
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