A fortnight after promising to provide ‘timely, state-of-the-art, hassle-free, transparent and comfortable services’ to Delhiites, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Monday announced that its e-District project was finally open. The project aims to provide online various government-issued certificates to Delhiites.
The initiative makes Delhi the first State in the county to allow online applications, online status verification and digitizing the entire legacy data related to such services.
Launched at a function presided over by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat, the portal will allow citizens to apply for certificates of birth, marriage and death to official documentation required for OBC, SC, ST, Income, Solvency and lal dora, among others.
According to government statistics, as many as 9,49,500 citizens visited the portal and 1,15,450 certificate applications were processed through it since its test launch in early November. The government aims to add services related to ration cards, the Social Welfare Department, the enrolment and registration of Civil Defence Volunteers and Cinema Licensing to the portal by the end of this month.
Expressing satisfaction over the project, which he said was completed by the Revenue Department well in time, the Chief Minister said the e-governance project would ‘substantially’ help bring down the timelines for delivery of various categories of certificate services. This, Mr. Kejriwal, said was besides eliminating the role of intermediaries and ensuring checks against fake and fabricated documents through the use of technology.
“Our module of the e-District project and simplified processes for the issuance of various types of certificates can also be helpful for the other States,” Mr. Kejriwal said at the launch function.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, after congratulating the Revenue Department, said that an appreciation certificate would be given to the Department for completing the project in a short time. He also issued a word of caution to its officials, who now needed to keep strict ‘vigil on the system and monitor it properly’.
The initiative, accessible via http ://edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in , enables citizens to apply online or through any mobile device for certificates issued by the Revenue Department. The application status can also be tracked online. If the documents are in order, the digitally signed certificate is made available in the citizen’s account which can then be downloaded and printed from any internet-enabled computer.
A senior government official said they were now in the process of out-sourcing front-end services at Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) office counters, on the lines of passport offices, for better service delivery to citizens. Citizen service centres at several places to de-centralize service delivery are also under consideration, the official added.
