Come December, documentation in Delhi will become easier

Govt to table proposal for Capital’s e-District Portal in the upcoming Assembly session

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his wife Sunita at the NCC Republic Day Parade Camp 2014, in New Delhi on Wednesday.PTI Photo by Atul Yadav(PTI1_8_2014_00037B)

In what is seen as a significant paradigm shift in the way its departments currently deliver various services and documentation to the citizens of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has decided to make a dozen of the most sought after documents accessible with minimal hassle and at the shortest possible time-frame.

According to those associated with the project, the transparency factor that has been incorporated in the procedure would convert every citizen of Delhi into a vigilance officer empowered to blow the whistle on false facts furnished by those known to them.

The decision, which comes in the wake of a recent one taken by the Delhi Cabinet to do away with as many as 200 affidavits which were so far mandatory for the issue of documents ranging from birth to death certificates, will make Delhi the first State in the country to adopt a beginning-to-end approach in relation to the delivery of public services on the basis of self-attestation beginning December 1. According to senior government officials privy to the precise details of the scheme, efforts were also underway to institute a 'tatkal certification' system for those in need of self-attested, government-issued certification. Currently, the government offers as many as 240 services to the citizens of the Capital; of these, 12 of the most applied for are intended to be made accessible online.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, terming the existing procedure governing the delivery of such services 'a hotbed for corruption', said the government would table the proposal for the Delhi e-District Portal – which seeks to shift the onus of certification from the government to the common citizen -- in the upcoming Assembly Session which is scheduled to commence on November 18.

“How is the resident of, say, a slum cluster supposed to know two gazetted officers? Or be on terms cordial enough with his or her local MLA to get their signatures for an affidavit needed for the issue of certificates? This procedure was the reason for the cropping up of agents and long lines outside the homes and offices of local MLAs,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

“The government will issue whichever certificate citizens apply for on the basis of the information that they provide before putting it online where it will automatically become subject to public scrutiny; if it is challenged and someone complains in relation to falsification of facts, action will be taken,” the Chief Minister further said adding that the government was mulling a change in the law to make furnishing false information in an affidavit a cognisable crime.

With field verification now intended to be restricted to 'rare cases', the Chief Minister said, the sheer magnitude of the government's machinery that used to be 'consumed in paperwork' could now, thanks to public scrutiny, single-mindedly concentrate on vigilance and enforcement.

Mr. Kejriwal said his government's next objective in relation to the delivery of services in a time-bound manner consisted of amendments to the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act 2011.

To be tabled in the upcoming session of the Delhi Assembly, amendments to the existing Act, which would hopefully come into force beginning January 1 next year, applicants who are not provided services and certification within the prescribed time frame would be entitled to enhanced compensation which the government would extract from the salary of an official responsible for the delay.

“If the delivery of a service or certificate is supposed to be completed within, say, 15 days and it still does not take place, the clock will start ticking against the department and its officials on the 16{+t}{+h}day. While those officials found guilty of delay will be penalised, those who perform well will be entitled to handsome rewards from the government at the end of every year,” Mr. Kejriwal added.