AGARTALA, May 20 (TIWN): People in Tripura will no longer have to waste time by visiting the complaint centre to register their grievances about water supply.

Drinking Water and Sanitation department will launch toll free telephone service – to register, redress and report back to the caller, the complaints of water supply from across the state, said G. K. Rao, Additional Chief Secretary.

Speaking to TIWN at secretariat on Tuesday, Mr. Rao said, “It will be one of the major outcomes of the administrative reforms initiated by the government   to empower citizens to monitor the quality of public services, the round-the-clock would register and redress the complaints pertaining to not only erratic water supply but also against the staff of the Water Supply department,”

The official said that all calls made from any location in Tripura will land at the centralized round-the-clock call centre in Agartala. An advanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system would help customers easily retrieve the required information, lodge complaints and place other customer service requests at the call centre.

A caller would be able to speak to the operator between 6 am to 10 pm while complaints could be registered anytime through the IVR system. All complaints would be forwarded to the officials concerned, who would report back to complaint centre to further update the complainant, Mr. Rao said

The concerned minister would get a monthly audit of this system, especially on the areas from where maximum complaints are generated, from an international auditing agency to check the effectiveness of the system, he added.

It may recall here that Punjab is country’s first state to introduce t toll-free helpline to register water supply complaints in 2009. The initiate taken by Punjab government is reported to have achieved satisfactory results.