The Indian Express reports that Pune is leading the nation in the use of IT for governance. Recently, it had set up kiosks where citizens can pay property taxes, and get copies of birth and death certificates. This initiative has received an award from the state government, and Vansh Infotech, the company implementing the kiosks has promised to expand this concept to other cities.
Excerpts from the article:
This is the second time that the PMC initiative of information technology-enabled services (ITES) has won accolades. In December last year, the civic body had earned the international honour of the World Leadership Forum for its Auto-DCR software, building plan approval software. The Auto-DCR was later in demand from various municipal corporations of the country.
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Going a step further, he said that they had introduced additional features at kiosks for payment of electricity bills to MSEDCL and bills of select mobile telephone services. They are also planning to include payment of Direct to Home (DTH) television subscriptions and allow checking of railway and air ticket availability.
There are around 70 such kiosks being installed in various places of the city, with a monthly average collection of Rs 5 crore for the PMC, Dudhedia said, adding that the number of kiosks being installed would be 90 by November-end. A publicity campaign would be undertaken for further promotion of the services available at the kiosks.
Meanwhile, the PMC is also planning to provide an innovative facility for citizens to contact the police during emergency situations like terrorist actions or accidents. The civic administration plans to install emergency buttons at the kiosks which can be used to directly get in touch with the nearest police station.
Also check out PuneTech’s coverage of PMC’s other tech activities.