KOCHI: Varghese, a senior citizen from Kaloor, still goes all the way to the Corporation office to apply for the building permit for his new shop. Despite his weak knees, the sexagenerian visits the officers regularly. He is one among the lakhs who are bearing the brunt of the indefinite delay of Kochi Corporation’s e-governance project. The ambitious plan is touted to ensure Kochi a digital future.
However, much to the dismay of the public, the project, which was started more than a decade ago and has found mention in several budgets of both fronts, remains incomplete.
Other than the occasional mudslinging, nobody seems to be bothered about the common man’s plight.
“When the entire country dreams about digital India, our Corporation authorities aren’t one bit concerned about it. The far-reaching vision of former leaders has been derailed, thanks to poor planning and implementation of their successors. Ordinary citizens like me are the ones who suffer,” says Varghese.
Though the Corporation officials claim the timely issuance of services like marriage certificate, birth and death certificates, grievance cell and many others, there are complaints that most of them turn unavailable at regular intervals.
“As many of them are not yet implemented fully, we have no other option but to prefer offline mode. Though it is time-consuming, there is a surety that you will be able to at least talk to the official concerned,” says a resident at Kadavanthra.
However, the officials are considering another review of the project. “We are going to have a meeting with Local Self Government (LSG) Department Secretary and other stakeholders in Thiruvananthapuram regarding the future of the project. We are expecting a good outcome and a speedy completion of the project,” says T J Vinod, Deputy Mayor, Kochi Corporation.
Whereas, another Corporation official admits progress, but in snail pace. “After the latest extension in March, the process has gained momentum. But it eventually died down. Although another extension is on the cards, I don’t think the project will be a reality in full stretch anytime soon,” says the official on the conditions of anonymity.
Earlier, the Kochi Corporation authorities have decided to give yet another extension to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for implementing the e-governance project in last March. Interestingly, it has also decided to give a part payment of Rs 2.44 crore to TCS despite the opposition registering their dissent.
The original plan was to complete the e-governance project, which was introduced in early 2000, within a few years. Currently, the data entry for several modules for internal online services is still going on.