After two months, residents of Delhi may witness a major change in the system of public services extended by the state government.
They may not have to visit government offices for availing birth and death certificates, driving licence and other public identity documents. The Delhi government is introducing a scheme through which all these documents will be home-delivered. All that people have to do is dial the prescribed numbers (to be announced at the time of launching this scheme) and place a request for the specific documents and provide their residential address.
As per official sources, the government will set up a call centre in each city district in association with a private company. After the applicants place their request for documents over the phone, a sahayak (a government official from the concerned department) will visit the address provided with a biometric device and a camera. The documents will be prepared on site and handed over to the applicants for a minimum fee predetermined by the government. According to the government, during the first phase, as many as 40 services (documents) will be delivered. The list of these services will be made available after the government completes its set-up for operating the system. Delhi News
The proposal for this scheme was drafted in November last year, with inputs from officials of several key departments in the Delhi government. This scheme looks at ending the cumbersome system of queuing up before government offices. It also aims to curb the corruption of government officials.
This scheme, which many are calling the "home delivery of governance", is a brainchild of the Kejriwal-led AAP government. Incidentally, when last month, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had returned the proposal, he had received a slew of allegations from Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister of Delhi However, Baijal had dismissed the allegations saying he had sent back the proposal with questions.
Now that the lieutenant governor has approved the scheme, the Kejriwal government will have to demonstrate its worth on the ground.
SP Sharma, a resident of East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase I, said, “Much has been talked about this scheme, but its efficacy can be measured only after it is implemented.”
Doorstep delivery of documents is an ambitious plan of the AAP government. In the words of Srikant Verma, a member of the Preet Vihar RWA, “After three and a half years of governance, AAP has managed to provide free water and subsidised electricity. AAP’s ambitious anti-corruption helpline number [1031] had become a controversial issue, with a verdict still pending in court. There may be some political glitches in implementing the proposed scheme, but I think the people of Delhi will welcome it.”
