BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to give an impetus to the digitisation drive, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to procure handheld devices which would be used by Ward officers for collection of holding tax.
As part of the drive, the BMC recently floated a tender for supply of 54 handheld electronic devices from private firms. BMC had started online collection of holding tax in tax Ward 11 through Odisha online portal.
After the devices are operational, citizens of all municipal Wards can pay holding tax to tax collectors and get receipts from handheld devices instead of making payments at citizen service centres. Online payment can be made through net banking/debit card/credit card facilities available in Odisha online portal.
Currently, online tax collection through handheld devices is operational at select Wards in the City.
BMC has started registering grievances of citizens through its online redressal system. The website - www.bmcsampark.in is fully functional and citizens can post their complaints and track the response and progress on it. Similar facilities have been extended on the mobile application ‘My City My Pride’ which can be downloaded from Sampark website or Google play store. While the application is presently for Android operating system only, it will be available on other operating systems soon.
In another development, BMC has prepared detailed project report for construction of an abattoir at Gadakana. The project has been estimated at Rs 8.76 crore and is likely to commence by January, 2016, sources said. This apart, the civic body has made a master plan for reclamation of 14 water bodies in the Capital City. BMC has earmarked Rs 25 crore from its budget for the project.
DPRs of both the projects will be presented at a high-level meeting before the Housing and Urban Development Department on Tuesday.