Easy to apply, transparency and early deliverance of services are the benchmarks of good governance. Hassle-free applications and at-home service delivery without follow-up, have been dreams of ordinary men for a long. COVID-19 proved to be a disaster as all services came to a standstill and no face-to-face interaction was possible for more than a year. Even before that lockdown during the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was at standstill for months together. In totality, almost two years lost and the pendency of the various documents like date of birth, death certificates, registration of marriages, new ration cards and so many services are beyond imagination. Piling of pending files in various departments further delayed things. Critiquing the whole scenario revealed certain delays were genuine while others could have been avoided. Meanwhile, in the lockdown itself, the Domicile Certificate issue came up and because of the sentiments attached to it, online applications and certificates were issued along with offline mode. LG Administration, in continuation to the success story of domicile certificates, has now pushed for e-Governance. Major historical administrative decisions have been taken, hundreds of services have been brought under the ambit of PSGA, timeline fixed and no excuses for any delays. Further, learning from the COVID-19 episode, LG Administration directed to put all the services under the ambit of PSGA in online mode. Two services, date of birth and issuance of marriage registration certificate, have been put online and in an auto-appeal mode right now. Delay in putting all services in online mode hampers the momentum of the reforms and LG Administration has rightly taken a serious view of it, January end is the deadline now. Further despite the well-defined time limit of service deliverance, the delays are not acceptable at all and rightly administration has put all services in auto appeal mode also. Once an application for a service is made in online mode, the service has to be delivered in the stipulated time and if not done then it will automatically be put forward to First Appellate Authority. Various departments in incommunicado mode are no more welcomed, impinged explanations no more accepted, either the departments have to deliver services on time or be ready for punitive action under the set law. All these decisions are to burgeon democracy, the public is prime, they have certain rights and officials have to facilitate the deliverance of those rights. Keen interest and repeated meetings by Chief Secretary are much appreciated and his efforts to ensure everything is being done as per the LG directives in a set time are going to make departments more responsive and accountable in the long run. Enough time has been given and all hiccups have to be sorted out now without further delay. The necessary staff and experts have already been aligned, the software platform has been tested, and is being used all over India and running smoothly, whatever fine-tuning is required can be done in a short period and shouldn’t be the reason for any delays now. LG administration is going in for an employee audit also through an external agency as such shortage of staff is no more an excuse. A hundred-plus surplus staff has been found in the Civil Secretariat itself. Government is answerable to the public and all these initiatives are well-timed to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of citizens. Step by step LG Administration is drawing up new plans to ensure the least physical contacts, paperless offices, hassle-free online applications and automatic action on the delays. Deluding tactics are not going to work and administration at any moment can judge the performance of the departments and corrective action, if required, can be initiated. The administration has set the ball rolling, various departments have to ensure timely action on the ground, and the paucity of efforts is no more acceptable.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
