More services at your doorstep in Delhi by month-end

The Delhi government is going to offer 30 new services under its ambitious ‘doorstep delivery of services’ scheme by the end of this month, according to revenue minister Kailash Gahlot. Delayed by six months, the launch of the scheme’s second phase will allow Delhiites to make changes in their driving license or get a bus pass, among other services, without stepping out of their home.

Once opened to public, the total number of government services provided through the doorstep delivery of services initiative will increase to 70, from the existing 40. The 30 new services that will be added involve 10 departments, including labour, SC/ST welfare, tourism, drugs control, higher education, transport and food, and supplies departments.

“Under the second phase of the scheme, we are going to launch 30 new services by the end of this month. This will also help ration card holders as they will be able to add names of beneficiaries and make other changes in their cards. People will also be able to pay their motor vehicle tax or add a new category of vehicle in their driving license,” said Gahlot.

The scheme was launched by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on September 10 last year. The government had announced that the second phase would be launched on February 1. But, Gahlot said, the launch was deferred because of the Model Code of Conduct that came into effect during the Lok Sabha polls.

Officials in the administrative reforms (AR) department running the scheme, however, said the launch was deferred as the back-end team had to be strengthened. “The software used to crash almost every time due to the demand. Over the past six months, we have worked on developing a completely new software. Besides, earlier there was no linkage between the mobile sahayaks and the call centres and both verticals were operating in silos. We have now linked the two branches,” a senior official said.

Each service costs ₹50 and documents are collected from the applicant’s home through government agents or ‘mobile sahayaks’. The final document will be delivered either by hand or post.

Another official said that in the first three months, the AR department and the private concessionaire handling the back-end team faced difficulties in increasing the number of mobile sahayaks and retaining them. “In October and November, over 50 mobile sahayaks left the job as they were dissatisfied with the pay. Recruiting new employees was a problem, as only those who had a two-wheeler could apply, because the job required for them to travel a lot. These issues have now been sorted,” the official said.

First Published: Jul 16, 2019 05:04 IST