CHENNAI: Seeking to bring greater accountability and speed to grievance redressal in the cooperative sector, the Tamil Nadu Cooperation Department has introduced a structured, time-bound mechanism for addressing petitions at every level of the administrative hierarchy. The new guidelines require officials to receive, examine and dispose of grievances on designated days every month, while making periodic monitoring and reporting compulsory.
Under the framework issued by Registrar of Cooperative Societies G Latha, Cooperative Sub-Registrars and field officers at the block level will receive grievance petitions on the first Friday of every month and dispose of them on merit. Petitions that remain unresolved at this stage, along with those submitted directly to Deputy Registrars, will be taken up by Deputy Registrars on the second Friday. Cases that still require intervention, as well as petitions received directly by Joint Registrars, will be heard by Zonal Joint Registrars on the third Friday of every month.
“The objective is to ensure immediate action on grievance petitions through a clearly defined administrative process,” the circular said, directing officers at every level to ensure that petitions are disposed of without undue delay.
The circular also places emphasis on continuous oversight. Zonal officers have been instructed to review the status of all petitions, while Zonal Joint Registrars must submit consolidated monthly reports through the department’s online portal, detailing petitions received, disposed of and pending. The Registrar will review the reports every month to monitor the effectiveness of the new system.
To ensure uniformity in monitoring, the department has prescribed a standard reporting format covering grievances related to loans, consumer affairs, sales, employee service matters, pension benefits, salary disbursal and other issues handled by cooperative institutions.