CHENNAI: People in Tamil Nadu may soon be able to avail all the necessary permits and certificates for buildings in a single web portal. This will be a single stop for a range of services from building permits, occupancy certificate or completion certificate. The state government has embarked on building a single window portal at a cost of Rs 36 crore for this, it is reliably learnt.
Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency sources said that the agency has been engaged to help develop and maintain the state-wide portal and it will soon be calling for tenders for the project.
People can submit the application online and it will be processed through the software. The services will include processing of planning permissions, building permission applications, completion certificate and occupancy certificate. Builders will also be able to apply for layout approval for lands coming under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Town and country planning (DTCP), Greater Chennai Corporation and the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration.
The web platform will be citizen oriented to facilitate transparency, comfortable filing from the end user’s side and also keep digitised records for the future use by the authorities.
Interestingly, this comes after Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has recently implemented a web portal for the approval respective to their jurisdiction.
The single window portal bids are being floated after State Single Window Monitoring Committee has urged the IT department to ensure uniform software technology framework for all government service delivery portals to make integration of services easier. There have been issues with certain departments still processing applications under the offline mode, the committee has stated.
The construction permit approval was suggested in Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2017 but it was not implemented. Builders Association of India Chairman Southern centre S Rama Prabhu welcomed the move to have a single window portal. “Now we have been made to run pillar to posts. Once the single window portal is introduced, it will cut red tape,” he said.
The portal will also have details about architects, licensed surveyors, engineers who have been mandated to register their profile. The portal will be integrated with the CMDA portal. It will also have master data like districts, cities, taluks, towns, village panchayat, blocks etc and the application will be routed to the concerned department as per the work flow.
It is learnt that list of 11 reform recommendations has been suggested for Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and other agencies under the Business Reforms Action Plan, which includes developing a single window system that could provide 16 services and construction permits besides having an online information wizard which will provide a comprehensive list of licenses, registrations required for undertaking a specific business and providing links to online application forms for licences or no-objection certificates required by users.