Municipal mobile apps to rescue the homeless

A host of municipal services can be accessed through Citizen Buddy app

December 12, 2017 12:29 am | Updated 12:29 am IST - HYDERABAD

Mission for Elimination of Poverty (MEPMA) under the Department of Municipal Administration & Urban Development has announced that it will be soon launch of two mobile apps -- Urban Genie and Urban Dosth -- to bring various services closer to the people of urban areas across Telangana.

In Urban Dosth, citizens can contribute to the cause of the ‘urban homeless shelters’ by connecting the homeless to the shelters established by the Government with the help of the app.

“Many find homeless people at various places but do not know where to take them or who should be informed. The app which can be downloaded shortly will help citizens to find out the location of the nearest one,” said MEPMA Director T.K. Sreedevi on Monday.

At a press conference, she said it is an Android-based mobile app and anyone with a smart phone can be part of the initiative to report the homeless person wherever they are spotted.

Ürban Genie is another Android mobile app which will enable citizens to find service providers for services such as electrician, plumber, fitter, repairer etc., in their respective areas.

When a request for a service is made through this app, it is auto forwarded to local city livelihood center of the municipality. Based on the area and type of service required, the centre will send trained, verified service provider/skilled professionals to the house.

Citizens can also give their feedback on the service and quality that will facilitate MEPMA to provide better services as unemployed persons can register themselves on the app with their personal details and their skills, preferences etc by which MEPMA can help them in getting the employment or enhancing the skills, she explained.

Dr. Sreedevi, also Commissioner & Director of Municipal Administration, also urged citizens to make use of another popular Android app - Citizen Buddy -- through which a host of municipal services can be accessed and monitored plus online services too.

These include issues pertaining to property taxes, water connections, water leakages, trade licenses, birth & death certificates, etc., which are part of the Citizen Services Monitoring System with an aim to provide trans parent and time bound services to urban citizens.

Citizens can not only check their application status continuously but it also helps the senior officials to keep tab on the disposal of applications. The Director said about 18 municipal services were are provided online with complaints/applications disposals too showing an improvement.

If 47,855 complaints or applications were received in recent times online or through the mobile app, as many as 38,753 have been redressed and 9,000-odd remain to be cleared.

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