Doorstep services delivery a good idea, say Delhiites

More than 372 households have had a facilitator, ‘mobile sahayak’, visit them in the last four days since the launch of the doorstep delivery of services on September 10.

People who availed of the service appreciated the idea but also suggested improvements.

Hindustan Times spoke to 10 individuals who used the service, including the meetings with the mobile sahayaks, and found people were largely satisfied.

On Tuesday night, Sanjeev Oberoi, 36, dialled 1076 on his mobile phone just to test if the government’s claims were true.

“I got through the number at once. That was because I dialled at 2 am. I fixed the appointment at 8 am for the mobile sahayak to pick my documents and fill the form. But the person came at 11 am. Although my experience was fine, I had to forego the first half of my office that day because of the delay,” he said.

Oberoi, a resident of Greater Kailash, suggested the government should provide a tracking system once the application is registered. “Once your appointment is fixed, you have to dial the same number, 1076, to find out why the sahayak is late or if he will come at all or not. And this number remains busy throughout the day. No text message is sent to let us know the phone number or the name of the sahayak,” he said.

To avail of the doorstep delivery service, one needs to call at the helpline number 1076. Services such as getting and renewing driving licences, getting water connections and a host of certificates such as marriage, income and caste papers can be availed of through this service, which aims at ending the tout menace in government offices.

Preeti Madan, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, said the government must train those behind the phones and the sahayaks more about the services being offered in the presence of officers from the department concerned.

“The executives who answer calls and the sahayaks are young energetic people – mostly 12th pass and graduates. I applied for marriage certificate, but the executive said only marriage registration could be done. It could be because that is what was written in their format. The sahayak, however, said by registering a marriage, one gets a certificate by default,” she said.

One problem every individual HT spoke to faced was the time taken by the sahayak in completing the task. While Oberoi said the person assigned to him took 45 minutes, the facilitator visiting Madan took over two hours.

“They (sahayak) comes with a tablet, which is cool. But they are equally new to the online application system as we are. I hope with time, they get more trained. Nobody feels safe to allow a stranger to sit in their home for so long. The man took an hour to complete all formalities,” said Rachna, a cook in Majnu ka Tila who applied for an income certificate.

But there were at least two dozen other people who expressed frustration over the calls not getting connected at all.

Ronak Bhakkar, a chartered accountant, said he had been trying the helpline for two days. “But it gets cut in seconds. I have not even been able to reach a stage where my phone gets connected to the system,” he said.

Suman Vasishta,a resident of Janakpuri, said after trying multiple times, she got through. “I got a text message that the executives would call back on Thursday afternoon. But, until evening, no one called back,” she said.

The government said it is augmenting the number of operators and lines on the service. “We are being extremely careful about the security of the applicants. Their numbers are not being shared with the sahayaks to ensure women’s safety and to prevent corruption. Sahayaks have been asked to go back to those houses who could not furnish complete documents on the first visit,” said an advisor to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

First Published: Sep 14, 2018 03:16 IST