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BWDB will establish a grievance redress mechanism (GRM) as a means to ensure social accountability and to answer to queries and address complaints and grievances about any irregularities in application of the guidelines adopted in this EMF for assessment and mitigation of social and environmental impacts. Based on consensus, the procedure will help to resolve issues/conflicts amicably and quickly, saving the aggrieved persons from having to resort to expensive, time-consuming legal action. The procedure will however not pre-empt a person’s right to go to the courts of law.
7.10.1Grievance Redress Focal Points -
A Grievance Redress Committee (GRC) at local level will be formed for each Union with union level representation to ensure easy accessibility by the project affected persons and communities. This local GRC will be the local focal points of the project GRM. The GRM sets out the information and communications strategy to ensure that PAPs and communities are fully informed about their rights to offer suggestions and make complaints. All grievances received through the GRM process will primarily be forwarded to the GRCs. The Secretariat for each GRC will be at the office of the Executive Engineer. If any grievance is not resolved at GRC, the aggrieved person may request the convener of GRC to forward the case to the Project Director at PMO, Dhaka. The GRC will officially forward the cases with their comments to the Project Director. Hearing of petitions with GRCs will be held at the Convener’s office or at Union Parishad/Ward Councillor’s office as agreed by the committee members. The membership of the GRCs will ensure proper presentation of complaints and grievances as well as impartial hearings and investigations, and transparent resolutions.
Membership of GRC
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1. Executive Engineer (BWDB Division Office)
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Convener
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2. Representative of the RP Implementing NGO
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Member-Secretary
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3. Local UP Chairman /Ward Councillor
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Member
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4. Teacher from Local Educational Institution (nominated by Upazila Administration)
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Member
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5. Representative from Local Women’s Group
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Member
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6.Representative from the PAP Group
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Member
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Members of the GRCs will be nominated by the Executive Engineer at division level and approved by the Project Director, PMO, BWDB, Dhaka.
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All complaints will be received at the GRCs facilitated by the implementing agency. The aggrieved persons may opt to make complaints directly to the Project Director or Secretary of the MoWR or even to the court of law for resolution. The Member Secretary will review and sort the cases in terms of nature of grievance, urgency of resolution, and schedule hearings in consultation with the Convener. All cases will be heard within four weeks from the date of receiving the complaints.
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If the resolution attempt at the local level fails, the GRC will refer the complaint with the minutes of the hearings to the Project Director at PMO for further review. The Project Director will assign the ESC at PMO for review the grievance cases and assist Project Director in making decision. The ESC will review the case records and pay field visits for cross examining and consult the GRC members and aggrieved persons, if required. If a decision at this level is again found unacceptable by the aggrieved person(s), BWDB can refer the case to the MoWR with the minutes of the hearings at local and headquarters levels. At the ministry level, decisions on unresolved cases, if any, will be made in no more than four weeks by an official designated by the Secretary, MoWR. A decision agreed with the aggrieved person(s) at any level of hearing will be binding upon BWDB.
Figure 7 19 GRM Process Flow Chart
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To ensure that grievance redress decisions are made in formal hearings and in a transparent manner, the Convener will apply the following guidelines:
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Reject a grievance redress application with any recommendations written on it by a GRC member or others such as politicians and other influential persons.
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Remove a recommendation by any person that may separately accompany the grievance redress application.
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Disqualify a GRC member who has made a recommendation on the application separately before the formal hearing:
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Where a GRC member is removed, appoint another person in consultation with the Project Director.
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The Convener will also ensure strict adherence to the impact mitigation policies and guidelines adopted in this SMRPF and the mitigation standards, such as compensation rates established through market price surveys.
7.10.3GRM Disclosure, Documentation and Monitoring -
The affected persons and their communities will be informed of the project’s grievance redress mechanism in open meetings at important locations and in PAP group meetings. Bangla translations of the EMF and the GRM in the form of information brochures will be distributed among the project affected persons. The PAPs will also be briefed on the scope of the GRC, the procedure for lodging grievances cases and the procedure of grievance resolution at the project level.
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To ensure impartiality and transparency, hearings on complaints will remain open to the public. The GRCs will record the details of the complaints and their resolution in a register, including intake details, resolution process and the closing procedures. BWDB will maintain the following three Grievance Registers:
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Intake Register: (1) Case number, (2) Date of receipt, (3) Name of complainant, (4) Gender, (5) Father or husband, (6) Complete address, (7) Main grievance regarding social (loss of land/property or entitlements) or environmental, (8) Complainants’ story and expectation with evidence, and (8) Previous records of similar grievances.
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Resolution Register: (1) Serial no., (2) Case no.,(3) Name of complainant, (4) Complainant’s story and expectation, (5) Date of hearing, (6) Date of field investigation (if any), (7) Results of hearing and field investigation, (8) Decision of GRC, (9) Progress (pending, solved), and (10) Agreements or commitments.
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Closing Register: (1) Serial no., (2) Case no., (3) Name of complainant, (4) Decisions and response to complainants, (5) Mode and medium of communication, (6) Date of closing, (7) Confirmation of complainants’ satisfaction, and (8) Management actions to avoid recurrence.
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Grievance resolution will be a continuous process in RP implementation. The PMO and SMOs will keep records of all resolved and unresolved complaints and grievances (one file for each case record) and make them available for review as and when asked for by WB and any other interested persons/entities. The PMO will also prepare periodic reports on the grievance resolution process and publish these on the BWDB website. The format in Annex 3 of SMF may be used for periodic grievance reporting.
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