Chandigarh, February 9: Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Tuesday virtually launched 56 services newly added to theSewa Kendras, slamming the previous SAD-BJP government for transforming thisunique initiative he had launched in his previous term into loss-making whiteelephants with their inefficiency and ineptness.
Underlining the importance of changing the way of working inthe new digitalised era, to make it more transparency and efficient, CaptainAmarinder said his government was committed to bring in greater transparencyand efficacy in governance by taking the total number of citizen-centricservices available at these Kendras to 500 in the next 3 months. With today’slaunch, the number of services at the Sewa Kendras now stands at 383, with adaily footfall of 60000.
The Chief Minister directed Chief Secretary Vinni Mahajan toensure that more services are included in the portfolio of these Kendras in atime-bound manner, with a call centre all set to be launched next month toenable citizens to lodge their grievances with total ease. He also directed the Governance Reformsdepartment to tie up with the Department of Posts to immediately begin homedelivery of documents as in the case of passports.
Blaming the Akalis for the unviable, poorly managed andunderutilized Sewa Kendras, resulting in a huge drain on the state exchequer,Captain Amarinder said that as many as 2144 Sewa Kendras were running withminimal footfall and poor delivery of services, while only 170 governmentservices were available in these Kendras under the previous regime. Besides, asum of Rs. 400 crore was recklessly spent on constructing these whiteelephants, which cost Rs.250 crore annually to the state government to runthese centres.
His government, on coming to power in 2017, decided at itsvery first cabinet meet to establish Unified Service Delivery Centres foronline delivery of services, the Chief Minister recalled. Apart from this, aconscientious decision was taken for amalgamation of all the existing centressuch as Suvidha Centres, Saanjh Kendras, Fard Kendras, etc. with completebackend computerization and digitization to ensure public delivery system in aseamless manner.
The rationalization led to reduction in the number of SewaKendras from 2147 to 516, and subsequent fresh tendering transformed theproject into a self-sustaining revenue sharing contract model, with no burdenon the state exchequer, he added.
Noting that the State Government started earning Rs. 6 croreannually from these Sewa Kendras rather than paying for its running, the ChiefMinister said consequently the number of services was increased to 327 from 170being provided during the tenure of SAD-BJP government. Thus, the presentCongress Government reversed a huge annual loss of Rs. 256 crore imposed on theState Exchequer by the previous SAD-BJP government, he noted.
As the Sewa Kendras gear up to further expand their ambit tocover a total of 500 services in the next 3 months, the Chief Minister said thesingle-window delivery of services had brought in a new level of transparencyand efficiency into governance, enabling the people of Punjab to avail allservices under one roof.
He directed the department to expedite delivery of SmartRation Cards and Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana through the Kendras.
The 56 new services added to the Sewa Kendras today include37 that were earlier provided by Police department through Saanjh Kendras, 18which were so far under the purview of the Transport department through theiroffices, and one (mutation service) that the Revenue department had beendelivering through Fard Kendras in the state.
Transport Minister Razia Sultan shared details of some ofthe services added to the Sewa Kendras today, including issuance of RC anddriving licence appointment booking, NOC for inter-state transfer of vehicles,change of address, among others. Revenue Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar alsoannounced details of various new services.
DGP Dinkar Gupta revealed that 21 Police related services,such as Passport Verifications, Arms License verifications, Registration ofForeigners, Issue of NoCs, Copy of Untraced Reports etc., which were earlierbeing provided from 294 Saanjh Kendras would now be provided from 516 SewaKendras located all over the State. As a result, police personnel earlier deployedfor delivery of such services from Saanjh Kendras would be released for variouspolicing duties once the migration of such services from Saanjh Kendras to SewaKendras is completed by 1st April, 2021, he added.
Chief Secretary Vinni Mahajan disclosed that the ChiefMinister himself was regularly monitoring the process of inclusion of newservices into the system, in a time-bound manner. The Sewa Kendras, being runin PPP mode, are benefitting 5.5 lakh people every month at the moment, and thenumber would now go up with the launch of 56 new services through the centres,she added.
Additional Chief Secretary Governance Reforms Anirudh Tiwarisaid that 516 Sewa Kendras are currently operational in the urban and ruralareas of the state with a daily footfall of 60,000 and providing employment tomore than 5000 youth. These centres offer 327 government services, besidesproviding miscellaneous non-State Government services like Photostat, Courier,Direct Money Transfer, Fastag, PAN card, Ticketing (Bus & Train) etc.
On the occasion, some of the customers of the Sewa Kendrasshared their experience of the ease with which they had successfully availedservices relating to birth certificates, domicile certificates, learner’sdriving license, among others. Sapanches of some villages also spoke of thedifference the Kendras had made to the lives of the people.