'AAPConnect' to solve civic issues

 AAP MLA Somnath Bharti has given a twist to the mechanism for addressing local complaints, while his party is busy stirring up demand for fresh Assembly polls in Delhi.

Launched early this month, his online complaint system called AAPConnect uses phone, internet and drop boxes to cut through red tape and ensure time-bound redressal for people of Malviya Nagar. 

Speaking to Deccan Herald, the former minister in AAP government said his office receives nearly five dozen complaints daily. 

“AAP connect will work both online and offline,” said Bharti, while adding that the system will help eliminate the ‘middleman’.

He said the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency is divided into 27 mohalla sabhas. The coordinators of each of these mohalla sabhas have drop boxes installed at their house. 

All the written complaints are scanned and fed in the complaint system.

The locals can also directly register their complaints with the AAPConnect web portal or can chose to call up the MLA’s office directly. 

Once the complaint is registered, the party shoots off an SMS and a pre-recorded voice message of the MLA to the petitioner. 

The MLA said AAP workers contact the concerned government official and ask for a time bound action. 

The complainant gets an SMS alert in case of any progress, he added.
  Most of the complaints received by the MLA office are regarding civil issues, ranging from sewage, drainage, bad roads to lighting on the streets. 

“There are very few complaints regarding departments of Delhi Government. But MCD has failed in all sense,” said Bharti, alleging that the municipal body has been non-cooperative, mainly in South Delhi. 

In a YouTube post on Tuesday, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said if the ‘experiment’ is successful, it will be replicated in other constituencies. 

“Generally, people want to share their demands but meeting their representatives is the most common hurdle,” he said, endorsing the online complaint system.