The mobile sahayaks are the field agents tasked with attending requests by visiting households and uploading the requisite documents. (File photo)The demand to get caste (OBC) certificates trumped all other service requests under the Delhi government’s doorstep delivery of public services scheme, with 12,800 requests in the first three months of its launch, according to RTI data.
Caste (OBC) certificate falls under the jurisdiction of the revenue department, which received the highest requests (45,506) between September and November. A total of 40 public services falling under seven departments are available for doorstep delivery under the scheme, launched on September 10 last year.
At 12,560, the requests for learner’s licence occupies the second position, while 9,163 applied to get caste (SC) certificate home delivered, the Administrative Reforms (AR) Department, which is overseeing implementation of the scheme through VFS global services, said in response to a Right To Information application filed by The Indian Express.
The month-wise service requests received in September, October and November are 37,395, 31,342 and 16,631 respectively. The 241 mobile sahayaks attended 19,103 requests in September, 48,131 in October and 16,631 in November, according to the RTI response.
The mobile sahayaks are the field agents tasked with attending requests by visiting households and uploading the requisite documents.
People can place requests by dialling a dedicated helpline, 1076, which routes the calls to a call centre.
Subsequently, applicants receive a confirmation via SMS, detailing the scheduled time and date of the mobile sahayak’s visit. The sahayaks charge Rs 50 per visit following successful uploading and submission of applications through the government’s e-districts portal. The AR department said that as on December 31, 336 employees were working in the call centre.
While service requests and doorstep visits by sahayaks showed a dip in November, the number of applications disposed picked up in October and remained more or less steady thereafter. The RTI data shows that after a slow start, with 1,929 applications being disposed of in September, 11,996 and 8,904 applications were disposed of in October and November respectively.
Going by the break-up of requests received under the 40 different heads, issuance of income certificate, with 7,399 requests, occupies the fourth place; issuance of priority household card the fifth with 5,268 requests; and marriage registration sixth with 4,850 requests.
In cases of marriage registration, an applicant is expected to get the service delivered only after completing formalities at the local SDM office. Recently, an issue came to light when a marriage registration applicant was asked by officials at the SDM office to fill up the forms afresh, despite the mobile sahayak having done so. The issue has been raised at the government level.
The least requests, five, have come under the ROR (Rights of Record — Land) head. In terms of departments, the Women and Child Development Department received only 122 requests between September and November.
Calling the scheme “revolutionary”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that it will help bring down corruption and eliminate touts from the government machinery.
