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Bengaluru: In view of complaints that officers were not responding to legislators regarding public grievance redressal, the Karnataka government has issued a circular mandating officials to promptly respond to, and return missed communications.

The directive follows a letter dated December 16, 2025, from the chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, Basavaraj Horatti, flagging concerns that some officers were not responding to calls made by legislators seeking redressal of public grievances.

According to a circular dated January 21, Members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, as well as Members of Parliament, often need to contact officers while addressing issues raised by the public from various parts of the state.

"It has come to my notice that in such situations, some officers do not receive telephone calls made by public representatives. Further, even when officers are engaged in other urgent work at that time, they do not make a return call later, even as a matter of courtesy," the circular issued by Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh stated.

In view of this, all officers have been instructed to keep the contact numbers of elected representatives—including MLAs, MLCs, and MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—and ensure that their calls are attended to, it stated.

"If officers are engaged in urgent official duties at the time of the call, they must make a return call after completing their work and respond appropriately to the issues raised," the circular said.

The chief secretary has also asked officers to convey these instructions to their personal staff to ensure compliance.