Chennai: DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Monday launched an exclusive helpline No: 78108 78108 to reach out to voters in his constituency of Kolathur.
The helpline, launched by Stalin at his MLA’s office in Kolathur, allows the constituency’s voters to register their grievances.
Callers are received with an automated message in which Stalin introduces himself as ‘their MLA’ and requests them to reach him through the helpline and air their grievances.
“Every call will be recorded and the grievances forwarded to officials of departments,” advocate Girirajan and DMK’s north Chennai candidate in the Lok Sabha poll told Deccan Chronicle. A separate team has been formed to receive calls and track the complaints taken up with the officials concerned, he added.
The callers also receive an acknowledgement SMS with a complaint number. Besides thanking the callers, the SMS also assures them an update. Even as early as 4 pm, an hour before the official launch, the helpline received over 10,000 calls.
“He (Stalin) has been making bi-weekly visits to the constituency thus far. This is a step further in reaching out to the voters. More such efforts will flow. He has shown the way ahead for all MLAs,” said former Chennai Mayor and Stalin confidant M. Subramanian.
Hits out at corporation: Describing the helpline as the ‘first step’ in effectively connecting with the people, Stalin urged the voters to monitor their elected representatives even online via Facebook and Twitter.
Seizing the opportunity to take a dig at the AIADMK-led Chennai corporation council for leaving the city in a waterloged state even in the early days of the northeast monsoon, Stalin complained that the AIADMK regime had not desilted the stormwater drains merely because they were constructed during the DMK’s tenures.
The ‘narrow-minded approach’ of the ruling AIADMK that ‘credit will go to rival DMK if the desilted drains spare the city from flooding’ was ‘condemnable’, Stalin said, requesting the officials to pitch in immediately and make elaborate preparations to avoid any more flooding.
