Governance Efficiency: DARPG Achieves 1.7 Lakh Grievance Redressals in January 2026
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) | Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
The DARPG Monthly Report for January 2026 mentions that the central grievance system, CPGRAMS, received 1,70,170 new cases while achieving a total disposal of 1,76,942 grievances. This sustained performance marks the 43rd consecutive month where disposal has exceeded 1 lakh cases, significantly reducing the active pendency to 71,460. Notably, 68% of these pending cases are less than 21 days old, reflecting a high velocity of resolution. The report also highlights a robust surge in grassroots participation, with 13,605 grievances registered through Common Service Centers (CSCs), of which Karnataka alone contributed 61%. To further refine quality, DARPG has revamped categorization for 30 ministries and continues to evaluate performance through the Grievance Redressal Assessment Index (GRAI).
Key Pillars of the January 2026 Grievance Report
Redressal Velocity: Resolving more cases than received in a single month, with a specific focus on keeping pendency within a 21-day window.
Grassroots Digital Access: Leveraging the CSC network to bridge the rural-urban divide, ensuring that citizens in remote areas can access formal redressal mechanisms.
Institutional Performance Benchmarking: Ranking ministries into Group A and Group B via the GRAI to incentivize efficiency and organizational commitment.
Categorization & Terminology Reform: Standardizing grievance heads for 35 ministries to reduce redundancies and improve citizen convenience.
Direct Citizen Feedback: Utilizing a Feedback Call Centre that collected 68,727 responses, achieving a 75% citizen satisfaction rate for resolved cases.
What is the “Grievance Redressal Assessment Index (GRAI)”? The GRAI is a performance evaluation framework introduced by DARPG in May 2023 to rank Central Ministries and Departments based on their handling of public grievances. It measures efficiency across four dimensions—Efficiency, Feedback, Domain, and Organizational Commitment—using 11 specific indicators. Positive indicators include the percentage of grievances resolved within the 21-day target and the percentage of “Satisfied” remarks from citizens. By quantifying these metrics, the index moves grievance handling from a “volume-based” task to a “quality-based” institutional priority, helping identify specific bottlenecks in departments like Labour or Railways that maintain high pendency.
Policy Relevance
The 75% satisfaction rate in grievance handling represents a transition from “Passive Petitions” to “Active Accountability,” institutionalizing trust as a core component of digital public infrastructure.
Federal Redressal Synergy: The 61% contribution from Karnataka’s CSCs highlights the need for other states to synchronize their local “Village Secretariat” models with the central CPGRAMS to ensure uniform climate and social-safety alerts.
Standardizing Digital Standards: Revamping categorization for 30 ministries acts as a “Standard Maker” move, aligning internal government workflows with the “Safety by Design” principles of the India AI Governance Guidelines.
Operationalizing Citizen Redressal: Integrating the Feedback Call Centre insights with the e-Jagriti portal can help regulators identify and stop emerging patterns of deepfake-enabled consumer fraud in real-time.
Bypassing Institutional Bottlenecks: The use of GRAI rankings enables the Cabinet Secretariat to apply “Techno-Legal Stress Testing” to departments with high pendency, ensuring they don’t become the weakest link in the $300 billion export supply chain.
Implementation Fidelity for Welfare: Redressing specific cases like OROP pension revisions or incorrect tax demands demonstrates the “last-mile” success of digital formalization for the 80 crore citizens dependent on state safety nets.
Follow the full news here: DARPG: CPGRAMS Monthly Report - January 2026