A UNIFIED CALL CENTRE FOR CITIZEN GRIEVANCES IN PUNJAB BY MONTH-END

Punjab is all set to have a unified state-wide single-number call centre to address all citizen-centric grievances by the end of the month. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday directed that the process to standardise the redressal mechanism be expedited, with instructions for bringing all the 500 citizen services in the state online, through the Sewa Kendras, within this year. He approved the recruitment of 503 personnel at various levels to give the necessary push for the process.

Chairing a virtual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Punjab State e-Governance Society (PSEGS), the Chief Minister also directed that for the convenience of citizens, Home Delivery of services and Tatkal services should also be launched from Sewa Kendras immediately. He ordered total computerisation and digitisation of the backend of the citizen-centric service mechanism to ensure effective and timely disbursal of services.

Currently, 329 services of various departments are being delivered from these Sewa Kendras to the citizens, with Saanj Kendras (Police) and Fard Kendras (Revenue) recently integrated into the system. These services shall also have a computerised backend and digitised legacy records.

To help achieve these targets, Captain Amarinder gave the go-ahead to the Department to hire 503 personnel at different levels.

Taking note of the success of the E-office in ensuring the smooth functioning of government offices, with reduced physical contact, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister also ordered the adoption of the E-office by all offices of the state government, including all Directorates, District and field offices, Boards, Corporations etc, by 31 May. This would enable the state to move toward paperless government functioning with increased efficiency and minimal human intervention, said an official spokesperson after the meeting.