RINL Aadhaar Blocking Row Escalates: Union Seeks PMO Action Over ‘Irresponsible’ CPGRAMS Response

Controversies do not seem to leave Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited and its top management.

This time, a fresh controversy has erupted over a grievance concerning the alleged blocking of Aadhaar Cards of contract workers at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), with Padi Thrinadha Rao, General Secretary of Visakha Steel Employees Union, questioning the manner in which the complaint was handled through the Central Government’s public grievance mechanism.

In a complaint sent to IndianPSU.com yesterday, Rao alleged that he received an “irresponsible reply” from the authorities without the substantive issues raised in his grievance being properly examined.

According to Rao, his original grievance concerning the alleged blocking of Aadhaar Cards of RINL contract workers was forwarded to RINL with instructions to respond within 30 days. However, he alleged that the grievance was subsequently shown as closed without the core allegations being addressed or any meaningful resolution being provided.

Rao then appealed against the disposal of the grievance. However, he alleged that the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Steel merely stated that RINL had been advised to respond within 30 days and disposed of the appeal.

“I received an irresponsible reply without going into the contents of my grievance. It is a very serious issue,” Rao said, questioning whether a grievance can be considered genuinely resolved merely because a response has been obtained from the organisation concerned.

‘Serious issue cannot be disposed of through routine replies’

The union leader has now sought intervention at the highest level, arguing that the matter requires examination beyond a routine departmental response.

Rao has demanded that the Prime Minister’s Office call for the complete records relating to the grievance, including the original complaint, the response submitted by RINL, the appeal and the subsequent replies issued by the Ministry.

The central issue, according to Rao, is not merely whether a reply was furnished within the stipulated period, but whether the specific allegations raised in the grievance were actually examined and answered.

He has particularly objected to what he describes as a response that ignored the allegation concerning the alleged blocking of Aadhaar Cards of contract workers.

Questions over CPGRAMS grievance redressal

The episode has also raised broader questions about the effectiveness of the Central Government’s grievance redressal mechanism.

Rao has argued that if a complaint is forwarded to the organisation against which the grievance has been made and subsequently closed on the basis of a response that does not address the substance of the complaint, the purpose of CPGRAMS could be defeated.

The union leader has therefore sought an independent examination of the records and accountability of officials if it is established that the grievance was disposed of without properly examining the issues raised.

He has also urged the authorities to determine whether the alleged blocking of Aadhaar Cards of contract workers at RINL was carried out, under whose directions it was done and whether such action was permissible under the applicable rules and law.

Demand for accountability

Rao has further demanded that responsibility be fixed if the authorities are found to have submitted an incomplete, misleading or evasive response.

The matter is particularly significant because the allegation concerns contract workers and their identification documents, while the grievance has now moved beyond the RINL level to questions about the manner in which the complaint was processed by the Ministry concerned.

For Rao, the issue is therefore not simply an individual grievance but a question of accountability in the functioning of the public grievance mechanism.

He has called for the PMO to obtain and examine the complete records rather than simply referring the matter back to the same authorities for another routine response.

“If the contents of a serious grievance are not examined and only a formal reply is treated as resolution, then the very purpose of CPGRAMS is defeated,” is the thrust of the union’s objection.

The allegations regarding the blocking of Aadhaar Cards and the conduct of the grievance process would, however, require verification from RINL, the Ministry of Steel and other competent authorities.

The matter now puts the spotlight on whether the authorities will undertake a substantive examination of the allegations or treat the matter as closed on the basis of the replies already furnished.