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       ISLAMABAD: For the past two months, citizens have been unable to access the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal due to “necessary maintenance”, which has rendered the application ineffective for a larger number of people.

       Meraj Khalid, a citizen who has been using the portal for several years, said it was unfortunate that he was not able to access the app. “For the last two months, every time I tried to open the app, I got a message that the system was under necessary maintenance and I should try later. I don’t know if the government has decided to close the portal or if it is really being upgraded,” he said.

       It is worth mentioning that the portal was introduced for citizens while Imran Khan was the prime minister. Admitting that the government officers do not listen to complaints of the masses, the former premier had urged people to lodge complaints through this portal. Similarly, overseas Pakistanis were also encouraged to lodge their complaints through this portal. Besides Mr Khalid, there are several others who are unhappy that the application is not working. Muhammad Asif said that the portal had become inaccessible for him.

       “It is unfortunate that I cannot open the app due to which I cannot even see my tracking ID. I tried to get information about my complaint via email, but even I cannot do that…” he said.

       According to details provided on the website, the Prime Minister’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) is a nationwide complaints and grievance redressal mechanism. The Pakistanis can get every possible relief from the government organisations through the Pakistan Citizens’ Portal.

       “You can directly connect with any government department to communicate your grievance or suggestion through the app. Your complaints will be resolved within government rules. No reference required to put forward a case. No physical mobility required. Regular update and real-time tracking regarding the status of complaints and no timing bar on complaint lodging/case submission,” it stated.

       This correspondent contacted the helpline of the citizen portal i.e. 051-9000111. A representative attended the call and confirmed that there had been an issue with the portal for the past two months.

       “It is because the app/system is under upgradation due to which some of the users are not able to open the app. However, there are a number of users who are still able to open the app and check the status of their complaints. It is not correct that the portal has been closed,” she said.

       According to the representative, the issue may be fixed within a week or may take a little more time after which all users will be able to access the application.

       In response to a question, users can get information about the status of their complaints by sharing their tracking number via email and the department would get back to them with the required information. But to access the tracking number, people need to access the application. To this, she admitted it was an issue, saying that those people should wait for a week or a bit more.

       Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2025