A UAE minister joined the nationwide drive to boost standards across government service centres - by fielding the queries of customers herself.
Hessa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development, met with staff and members of the public during a visit to a customer service centre in Oud Al Muteena in Dubai.
The trip on Thursday was part of an initiative - called Maydan - launched by the ministry to put more senior officials on the ground to improve quality of services.
Ms Buhumaid said she was committed to bolstering the wide variety of support offered by the ministry's service centres to a broad section of society, including families, people with disabilities and those looking to marry.
She said the official inspections would be carried out weekly by leading executives over the course of a number of months.
It is hoped that the scheme will give leaders at the ministry an opportunity to assess how customer service standards can be improved by seeing staff at work from close quarters.
Ms Buhumaid's visit came just days before Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, named the five best and worst government service centres in the Emirates following a comprehensive study of 600 providers.
Sheikh Mohammed said it was vital for the government to "have the courage to evaluate ourselves and our teams with ultimate transparency, because covering up our mistakes and shortcomings costs far more.
