This 25-Yr-Old Engineer Is Fixing Civic Issues In Jodhpur, Has Registered Over 170 Complaints

As we head to the era of Digital India, we seek quick redressal of our complaints via digital Government portals, but lack of awareness about such portals are still a hindrance in solving civic issues. However, a 25-year-old hailing from Jodhpur city, Pratyush Joshi, an electronic and communications engineer overshadows others through his keen interest in serving civic issues deeply rooted in the society.

After graduating, when he relocated to the city outskirt, he was deeply affected by the inappropriate disposal system, broken streetlights, improper water supply & related civic issues and decided to raise a voice against it via Sugam Samadham a portal called ‘Rajasthan Sampark’. Issues were resolved, and this marked the very beginning of his service to humanity accompanied by the help of this online portal.

How did it start?

While conveying his experience in seeking redressal to the civic woes, Pratyush says, “After completing college, I accidentally came across a term “Sugam Samadhan”, the name of the link of the then Rajasthan government. We shifted to Jodhpur in 2014; then there were civic issues that were being raised. I started registering the grievances on such matters. I learnt that if you don’t get a reply from the authorities, it does not mean that you do not complain. You have the right to complain to improve our living conditions.”

This inspired me to work on the issues, and I started lodging grievances. Many times it happened that the grievance may get neglected, but now even the government has taken stringent measures by upgrading the portal with an Automatic Reminder System so that any delay in the redressal by the concerned officer would straightaway notify the highest officials.”

Pratyush gives credit to his family customs in which they show a willingness to serve people. Parents and the elderly in the house guided him. At the same time, his brothers and friends helped him in his expedition. This inspired him to support people in getting their complaints heard. Pratyush says “When we were making a list related to installing street lights in an area, and my brother and friend were helping me write a letter to the authorities for installing 50-60 street lights in the area, their cooperation encouraged me a lot. The problem with these issues is that these are all common practices, but to highlight them and then to take it up for further action; has become my goal.”

Conquering the challenges

When asked about the problems he faced while lodging a complaint he said, “I have lodged 170 complaints about the civic issues under different departments of Jodhpur, Pali, Barmer and Jaisalmer out of which 150 were resolved at the first level of redress itself.” He further says that, while dealing with one such issue related to the corporation, the pending work had been completed by forwarding it to the office of Chief Minister, which was the main office of contact. A colony in Pali city faced water scarcity for seven years owing to the Water Department’s fault, which was even highlighted in the Maru festival. Later, the issue was addressed after notifying it to the Chief Minister’ office.

Talking about a recent incidence, Pratyush says, “Recently Dr Tarachand who was upset with the salary discrepancy, post his retirement in 2009; at his level approached the administrative headquarters in Jaipur till 2018, in which an order passed to CMHO Jaisalmer that contained his arrears settlement, but since 3 months, the matter was neglected by the officials there. Meanwhile, I met his son, working in Dubai who briefed me about the entire scenario and we complained in this regard with the concerned department. Within 2-3 days the order reached the CMHO office in Jaisalmer asking the officials to seriously look into the matter and owned a final bill containing the additional penalties to be paid to the Doctor. The final advantage of sending the bill is that the Last Payment Certificate (LPC) would be generated and will be forwarded to the Pension department and there would be some hike in his final pension amount.”

Additionally, he has raised voice against many issues concerning the tourism department, Municipal Corporation, Water supply, Public Welfare Department etc.

In 2017, Pratyush was honoured with the “Veer Durgadas Rathore Smriti Award”.

Pratyush’s complaints making things change

1. Potholes on the road within the ‘Tiwari Panchayat Samiti’ that goes towards ‘Osia’ causing inconvenience to the travellers sometimes also leading to fatal accidents. The grievance was filed on June 21st, 2015. The road from ’Tiwari’ to ‘Osia’ has been taken into consideration, and the work to fix the road is now in progress.
2. The road that goes to Balesar from Tiwari and onwards to ‘khudiyala’ through ‘gaga’ has potholes in several places. The road is also broken here and there. Since public extensively uses this road, it is prone to major accidents. The grievance was filed on July 21st, 2015. Taking the cognisance of the complaint the authorities replied that The Road has been laid out from ‘Tiwari’ to ‘Balesar.’
3. The ally near the SBI NRI branch running up to the residence of Dr Solanki has been tattered entirely not because of heavy rains but because the ground beneath was considerably sliced. The grievance was filed on July 29th, 2015. It has been fixed, and the closure has been concluded.
4. Leaking water pipe from the large pipeline going towards Jodhpur in ‘Faludi Gramin area’ where lakhs of litres of water was being wasted. The measures have been implemented but requires time. Over 170 such issues were solved and an overall worth of 4 crore rupees. The Chief Minister appreciated the work done by this responsible young citizen for getting all the pending work done.

Message to The Logical Indian community

“As such, I am not an inspiration for anyone in this situation, but to the youth, I request that when you start entering the rounds of criticism of any government or system, then you are mainly dominated by the inactivity of the system. You can review and help improvise it. The country itself will look forward. I request you to prioritize your country first as a responsible citizen of a progressive India, which will ultimately increase your responsibilities towards the nation.”