Delhi: South corporation to set up 438 outlets to bring civic services near you

NEW DELHI: In a few months, residents of south Delhi may be able to avail the civic services usually offered in zonal headquarters in their wards itself. With an aim to create a doorstep delivery of services like scheme, South Delhi Municipal Corporation is expected to rope in an agency hired by the Centre to create outpost centres, which will offer access services like birth and death certificates, licences and trade licences.As of now, 438 such units will be providing these services.
A senior corporation official said that these services will be provided in exchange of nominal pre-fixed charges to be paid by the residents. Currently, people are forced to visit the four zonal headquarters, wasting time as well as travelling expenses. But when these centres become operational, relief will be extended to many residents under SDMC’s jurisdiction, standing committee chairperson Bhupender Gupta said.
“Even though some of these services are available online, illiteracy and lack of access to computers still forces thousands of people to visit offices where they are also sometimes exposed to touts. Poor people are spending more money travelling to these offices than the actual cost of these certificates,” he added.
While briefing the standing committee about the progress report, a senior corporation official said that SDMC plans to sign an agreement with a company that is already running a common services centre for the Government of India. In the beginning, five services like deposition of property tax, birth and death certificates and mutation certificates are to be offered, the official said. The scheme will later be extended to include other services. “These centres are currently providing services like passports and Aadhaar cards. The nominal fee charged by the private player has not been fixed yet.
Formal agreement with the private company is expected to be finalised in a month. “Large boards clearly mentioning the SDMC logo and the services offered in these centres will be put outside the units, he added. While earlier, the civic body had planned to open one centre each in 104 wards of south Delhi, with the integration of this plan with the Centre’s scheme to extend e-governance through common service centres, the number of centres will rise to 438.
The official said that the IT department of the corporation has already carried out detailed mapping of SDMC wards and found that 1,240 centres are operating in Delhi. “Out of these, 438 centres fall in SDMC’s jurisdiction,” he said.