Sakala, Karnataka’s flagship scheme which aims at mandatory delivery of government services in a time-bound manner, is now catching the global attention. Four Asian countries have approached the authorities in Karnataka to know the possibility of emulating the scheme.
Authorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have visited Karnataka to know about Sakala, according to Sakala Mission Director M.V. Jayanthi. This is not all, even representatives of the World Bank have visited Karnataka to learn about the scheme, she said.
She told The Hindu that they were interested in the mechanism of delivering services related to 50 departments from a single platform.
Several States too have shown interest in the scheme. While authorities from Rajasthan, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have visited Karnataka and held consultations, those from Maharashtra and Goa have expressed interest.
Presently, 668 services from 50 departments are being delivered under the Sakala scheme. Of them, 135 services are being delivered online.
The monthly report on the status of implementation of Sakala, released on Thursday by Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra, indicates a marginal decrease in the number of officers defaulting on the delivery of services. The number of officers with seven or more number of defaults in delivery of services has reduced from 904 in the first half of the previous year to 820 in the second half.
In all, 7.07 crore services have been delivered to people in a time-bound manner under the scheme so far, according to Mr. Jayachandra.
World Bank representatives have also visited Karnataka to learn about the scheme aimed at time-bound delivery of services
