The Chief Minister's Office of Karnataka announced on Saturday, 20 June 2026 that the state government will establish a new department called Praja Seva Ilakhe (Praja Seva Department) to systematically hear and resolve public grievances, with a dedicated minister to be placed in charge of the new body.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar following a cabinet meeting, after which he briefed the media on the decisions taken. The post, in Kannada, states: 'A new Praja Seva Department is being launched to listen to and resolve the grievances of the public. A separate minister will be given responsibility for it.'

Context

The government's stated goal is to 'understand the hardships and feelings of the people and respond within the legal framework.' To anchor this mandate institutionally, a senior IAS officer will be appointed to the department to review all complaints and provide information on their status.

Crucially, petitions submitted directly to the Chief Minister and other ministers will also be brought under the umbrella of this new department, centralising a process that had previously been fragmented across multiple offices.

Policy Backdrop

Karnataka has a prior history of administrative reform in this space. The state enacted the Sakala Services Act in 2011, which mandated time-bound delivery of government services and established grievance redressal mechanisms. The Praja Seva Department represents a further layer of institutional oversight, this time with dedicated political accountability through a separate minister.

Across India, state governments have periodically created specialised units to centralise grievance handling and make administration more responsive. Karnataka's new department follows this broader pattern but adds a distinctive field-level component through weekly public meetings.

Stakeholders and Impact

District in-charge ministers will be required to hold weekly Janasamdana (public interaction) meetings in assembly constituencies within their districts, alongside local legislators. These meetings will be conducted under the new department's framework, and the issues raised will subsequently be reviewed and acted upon.

For ordinary citizens, the reform means a single institutional point of contact for grievances — whether those petitions were originally addressed to the CM, a cabinet minister, or a local representative. Local MLAs are embedded in the weekly meeting structure, giving elected representatives a formal role in the redressal chain.

What's Next

The immediate milestones to watch are the appointment of the dedicated minister to head the Praja Seva Department and the nomination of the senior IAS officer who will oversee complaint review. Once both appointments are made, the rollout of weekly Janasamdana meetings across all assembly constituencies in the state is expected to follow.

If implemented at scale, the department could become a significant accountability mechanism for the Congress government in Karnataka, giving it a structured channel to demonstrate responsiveness to citizen concerns ahead of future electoral cycles.