Nearly 68,000 grievances in just over three months — and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand has made it clear that number is not a badge of honour unless every complaint gets a real answer. Chairing a review meeting of the CM Helpline-1905 at the Secretariat on Thursday, 30 July 2026, Dhami issued some of the sharpest accountability directives the helpline has seen — zero-percent resolution officers, show-cause notices, and a hard one-week deadline for water complaints.

67,843 Complaints, One Week to Clear the Water Backlog

Secretary Dr. Pankaj Pandey placed the numbers on the table: between 18 April and 28 July 2026, the helpline received 67,843 complaints. Of these, 20,461 were fully resolved, 31,363 partially resolved, 7,404 are in process, 4,061 are pending, and 3,738 fall in the 'special close' category — a figure that has already dropped to 5.5 percent, an improvement on the previous period.

The CM was not satisfied with the headline numbers alone. He expressed open displeasure at the volume of complaints pouring in from the Drinking Water Department and the Jal Jeevan Mission — the central government's flagship programme to deliver tap water to every rural household. Departmental officers were told to clear all pending water grievances within one week. No exceptions.

Zero-Percent Officers Face Immediate Show-Cause Notices

The most pointed directive of the meeting targeted officials who have not resolved a single complaint assigned to them. Dhami ordered that department heads must immediately issue show-cause notices to any officer with a zero-percent resolution record. If the explanation is unsatisfactory, disciplinary action under service rules will follow.

'Negligence or indifference of any kind in resolving complaints will not be tolerated,' the CM said, adding that accountability will be enforced at every level. The message was unambiguous: the helpline is a performance metric, not a filing system.

Monday 'Samadhan Diwas' Becomes a Fixed Calendar Obligation

To create a structural rhythm of redressal, Dhami directed that every Monday be designated a Samadhan Diwas (Solution Day) — with District Magistrates hearing grievances at the district level, both Divisional Commissioners at the divisional level, and all Secretaries at the government level. The initiative is to be developed into a genuine public-service platform, not a formality, and must be monitored regularly.

He also directed that complaints which cannot be resolved within the prescribed timeframe must be reviewed regularly by department heads and District Magistrates — shifting the burden of follow-up from citizens to the administration.

Char Dham Routes, Land Disputes, and Pension Delays in the Crosshairs

The review ranged well beyond the helpline dashboard. Senior officers from the Disaster Management, Public Works, Tourism, Health, and Police departments were directed to conduct on-ground inspections of Char Dham Yatra routes — the annual pilgrimage circuit covering Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath — and strengthen arrangements ahead of the pilgrimage season. 'The safety and convenience of devotees must be the highest priority,' Dhami said.

On land disputes, he called for priority-based resolution and regular monitoring to clear cases that have dragged unnecessarily. On pensions, he set a firm standard: government employees must receive their pension from the very first month after retirement, with the responsibility resting squarely on the relevant department head.

Dhami also revived an earlier directive to IAS, IPS, and IFS officers to innovate in the regions where they began their service careers. A comprehensive list of all such innovations must be submitted within 50 days.

Next Review: Quality Over Quantity

The CM personally called complainants from various districts during the meeting to verify the ground-level status of their registered grievances — an unusual step that signalled how closely he intends to watch the system. He asked all Secretaries and District Magistrates to conduct their own internal reviews before the next helpline meeting, warning that the next session will not count complaints — it will judge the quality of resolution, citizen satisfaction, and departmental accountability.

Uttarakhand's administration has just been handed a measurable test. The next review meeting will tell the story.