Without a city nazim, CDGK’s one-window facility for citizens sees few queues… and fewer staff

0
148

The one-window facility launched by former city nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal at the City District Government Karachi (CDGK)’s headquarters has been giving a deserted look as the staff members deputed there do not even bother attending to the citizens who seek benefiting from the facility, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources said that the former mayor had proposed an idea about the one-window facility for the citizens to get the civic problems resolved; however, the staff members deputed there changed their duties after the local government’s tenure expired. After running from pillar to post, the frustrated citizens usually return home without accomplishing anything that needs the scrutiny of the CDGK officials before dispatching the documents to the officials concerned, the sources added.
They said that the tall claims of the city government aimed at facilitating the public arriving at the facility with a burden of unresolved problems on a daily basis seem to have become empty promises.
There are some 43 counters of various civic departments; however, interestingly, the staff members at these counters remain absent from these counters to resolve public grievances, they added.
It was witnessed that majority of the staff members work as private agents and only entertain those queries on which they receive extra fee.
According to officials, these counters were established on the instruction of the former mayor in 2005 with an objective to reduce people’s sufferings.
They said that after the closure of the counters, the agents had started minting money from the public, assuring them of resolving their problems.
Due to the unavailability of the staff on the ground floor to guide the public, many people face great confusion while visiting the departments at different floors of the 10-storey building of the city government.