A tense situation unfolded during a public grievance hearing at Dasarathpur block in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Tuesday after a verbal altercation broke out between the District Collector and a Zilla Parishad member over public complaints.

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According to sources, Zilla Parishad member Mamina Mallik from Zone-6 had attended the hearing to raise several issues concerning her area. During the interaction, she presented multiple grievances related to local problems before the district administration.

The situation turned heated after the District Collector allegedly expressed annoyance and questioned why so many complaints were being brought forward during the hearing.

This led to a sharp exchange of words between the District Collector and the elected public representative in front of other senior officials and several attendees present at the grievance redressal programme.

Mamina Mallik later alleged that the Collector appeared irritated while hearing public issues and did not respond positively to the complaints she raised on behalf of residents. She claimed that as a public representative, it was her responsibility to highlight the concerns of the people in her area.

While reactions from the District Collector could not be obtained immediately, the incident has triggered discussion in the district regarding the functioning of grievance hearings and coordination between administrative officials and elected representatives.

A total of 151 complaints had been submitted during the public hearing session, including several raised by the Zilla Parishad member. The incident has since drawn public attention in the district political circle.

“I had come with three issues. One was about an Ayush hospital, another was about the irregularities in Antyodaya Gruha Yojana, and the third was about the District Collector providing financial assistance to patients from the Red Cross fund. The Collector became very agitated with these three issues, asking how many issues I would bring,” the Zilla Parishad member said.

“I told, ‘I am a public representative; I will bring the problems of my zone’. He asked, ‘Why are you bringing so many problems?’ He spoke very irritably. So I told him, ‘As a Collector, why are you speaking so irritably? You are a District Collector, a Collector of the people’s government. Will you understand the people’s concerns, or will you ask why I am bringing so many issues?” Mamina Mallik stated.

“Later, there was an argument with the Collector because of this. Whatever problems I have, I have brought them to the Collector, not just today, but before too. His attitude is always very irritable, and he treats people like insects,” the Zilla Parishad member added.