Dysfunctional e-service centres force Perambalur villagers to commute kilometres in to town

PERAMBALUR: Increasing dismay over the dysfunctional state of several government e-service centres in the district’s villages has caused residents to demand action from senior officials. Originally set up by the government to provide services like birth and death certificate, community certificate, adangal and patta, there are about 80 e-service centres across several panchayats in the district, and are usually operational from 9am to 5pm.

But in several villages like Thiruvalandurai, Veppur, Othiyam, Perali, and Ladapuram, e-service centres have remained closed for the past few months, and residents of these areas are forced to depend on private centres at higher costs. “For a few years now, the e-service centre in our village has not been functioning, not even in an emergency.

The only other e-service centre is 12km away in Kunnam, and we have to wait for several days to get our needs met. To make matter worse, they also charge extra for it,” Venmani Varadharajan, a resident of Venmani, said. D Tamilarun of Thiruvalandurai said, “The centre was not fully functional in our village for over two years. We have to walk 3 km even to get a photocopy.

We are struggling for other needs, including smart cards. Steps should be taken to operate the centre again.” T Sathyaseelan of Veppur said, “The centre works with only one computer in our area. It also often causes server problems and we are forced to approach private centres. Sometimes the government centre closes in our area without notice.” When contacted, a senior official from Perambalur Mahalir Thittam assured to look into the issue.