New Delhi, April 6 : The number of pending public grievance cases in the Central Secretariat has increased from 66,622 at the end of February to 71,743 at the end of March. In March, 1,24,823 public grievances cases were received on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) portal, while total 1,19,706 cases were redressed and there exists a pendency of 71,743 cases, as of March 25. The departments that have received the maximum number of grievances in March include Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (19,826 grievances), Financial Services (Banking Division) (18,904 grievances), Labour and Employment (14,348 grievances), Financial Services (Insurance Division) (6,116 grievances) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (Income Tax) (5,360 grievances). As per the CPGRAMS monthly report for March, released by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the monthly disposal crossed one lakh cases for the eighth month in a row. The report said that 17 ministries or departments have more than 1,000 pending grievances as on March 25. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (Income Tax) and the Department of Personnel and Training, with 8,132 and 2,001 cases respectively, have the highest number of grievances pending for more than 30 days. In March, 15,691 public grievances appeals were received and 14,395 appeals were disposed. The Central Secretariat has a pendency of 28,042 appeals at the end of March. The Unique Identification Authority of India and Ministry of Labour and Employment are the top performers in the Grievance Redressal Index within the Group A for March. Department of Financial Services (Pension Reforms) and NITI Aayog are the top performers in the Grievance Redressal Index within the Group B for March. /IANS