Within just two days of the launch of email addresses [email protected] and [email protected] and toll free hotline numbers, the Ministry of Finance has received over 600 phone calls and 300 emails of complaints from the public.

Some complaints have been promptly addressed, while officials have been studying others.

“A lot of people are making phone calls to lodge their complaints,” said Tanka Prasad Pandey, spokesperson for the ministry. “We have resolved a few complaints, but the overwhelming number of phone calls has left us little time to inquire with the agencies concerned.”

The ministry on Tuesday unveiled email addresses and hotline numbers, along with the contact details of officials, urging the public to lodge complaints if employees of regulatory agencies, departments, banks, or financial institutions fail to carry out their duties, engage in misconduct, exert pressure for illegal activities, or demand kickbacks.

Officials say they will discuss with Finance Minister Rameshore Prasad Khanal on Thursday ways to address the growing number of public grievances.

“Minister Khanal is in Birgunj today [Wednesday],” said Pandey. “We will discuss the issue with him on Thursday.”

In a Facebook post on Tuesday evening, Minister Khanal wrote that action had been taken in response to about two dozen emails.

“We will respond to the rest as soon as possible,” his post read. “This will eliminate the need for personally visiting Singha Durbar to seek solutions to problems individuals and institutions face.”

Officials said that most complaints lodged at the ministry were related to local units, other ministries, road blockages caused by landslides, and traffic problems.

Former bureaucrats say that instead of creating multiple mechanisms to address public complaints, authorities should work to strengthen the existing ones.

“Hello Sarkar [the public grievance redressal mechanism] has done rather well in the past. What we need is an effective high-level mechanism to address public grievances,” said Kishor Thapa, a former secretary. “A Hello Sarkar-like mechanism should be activated as public complaints are not confined to any one ministry.”

He says that employees cannot comply with every directive issued by ministers or higher authorities, as they will be held accountable if due process is breached.

“The public has also tried to lure employees into illegal activities,” said Thapa. “The morale of employees has already taken a hit. How can they work effectively if unnecessary pressure is piled on them?”

Meanwhile, officials concede that most complaints need to be studied to see whether the issues raised are genuine or simply attempts to exert pressure to get their work done.

“We are aware that not all complaints will be genuine,” said Pandey. “Right now, we have only asked the officials concerned to clarify what happened in the case of a particular complaint.”