DA Editorial Desk | Sara Debbarma
Agartala residents now have a new way to complain. This week Chief Minister Manik Saha launched a WhatsApp-based grievance system with AI-driven responses, with the stated aim of making the city a “zero-complaint” area. According to one government account, residents can register complaints, track their resolution and give feedback from their smartphones, and an AI-based phone system supports the service. The Chief Minister described it as a first for Tripura and said it complements the state’s Amar Sarkar portal.
The idea deserves a fair welcome. Most people have WhatsApp on their phones already, which makes complaining easier than queuing at an office or hunting for a portal. A system that records each complaint, gives it a reference and lets the citizen follow its progress can cut delay and discourage officials from sitting on files.
The launch came alongside two drinking water projects in the city, an overhead tank and a treatment plant, and new rapid response vehicles. The Chief Minister himself acknowledged that road and pipeline work has caused temporary inconvenience in some areas. That is a useful reminder of what the system will be tested on. Complaints about water, drains, roads and rubbish are the daily business of a city, and they will arrive in numbers.
Here the slogan needs care. “Zero complaints” is a fine goal if it means every problem is fixed. It is a poor measure if it means fewer people complain. A system can show falling numbers simply because it is hard to use, because people do not trust it or because complaints are closed without anything being done. The right test is not how few complaints are logged but how many are resolved, how quickly and to the satisfaction of the person who raised them.
Several basics have not been made public: how long the authorities will take to respond, who staffs the system, how the AI decides what to do with a message and what happens when a complaint is not resolved. The government should publish all of this. It should set clear deadlines for each category of complaint, name the officer responsible for each zone of the Agartala Municipal Corporation, and make escalation automatic when deadlines are missed.
A public dashboard would add real accountability. Showing the number of complaints received, resolved and still pending, by ward and by type, would let citizens and councillors judge performance for themselves.
There are fairness and privacy concerns as well. Not every resident has a smartphone or is comfortable with a chat-based service. Older people and the poorest households should have a simple alternative, such as the phone line, ward offices and help desks.
Technology can make a city responsive, but only if the people behind it are responsive too. If Agartala’s new system leads to clean taps, working drains and cleared roads, the “zero-complaint” slogan will have earned its place. If it does not, it will remain a slogan.