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E-Governance


Thanks to CCTVs, CMC officals are said to be on their best behaviour

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Deccan Herald              07.01.2014 

Thanks to CCTVs, CMC officals are said to be on their best behaviour

Offices of Mandya CMC being monitored using CCTVs. DH Photo

In an effort to put an end to the menace of touts and to improve transparency, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras have been installed at the City Municipal Council office, in Mandya.

Nine CCTV cameras have been installed at various points on the premises, at a cost of Rs 85,000, which can be monitored from the office of CMC Commissioner.

Two cameras have been fixed at the entrance which helps monitor the people entering and leaving the office.

The remaining cameras have been fixed at sections where khata is transferred, accounts, receipt, birth and death certificate issuance and bill collection. The other two cameras will be installed at revenue and administration sections, said CMC Commissioner Dr Dasegowda.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, he said it had become easy to keep track of the punctuality of the staff members, and ascertain whether or not they are present on the premises during office hours.

Their behaviour with the general public, is also on vigil. The technology is also helpful in monitoring whether any person is moving in a suspicious manner inside the office, and check the purpose of his visit.

One of the staff members has been shifted to another department due to dereliction of duty, which was recorded on camera. The quality of work has improved among the staff after the cameras were set up and also put a brake to touts and agents who were interfering with official work, he said.

Maintenance

The maintenance of the cameras has been handed over to the technical wing of the CMC. The CCTVs have the capacity of recording for ten consecutive days, after which the data is transferred to a compact disc.

It has been 15 days since the cameras have been installed, and welcome changes have been observed in the administrative system, said officials, adding that there were also plans to introduce biometric system.
 

GHMC town planning services to go online

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The Hindu              07.01.2014 

GHMC town planning services to go online

Special Correspondent

New service from Feb. 1, says Commissioner

Come February 1, all the services and permissions from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) town planning wing will go online. The required software and paraphernalia is being set up and trial runs have been scheduled to start from January 20.

Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said the online service would allow an applicant to furnish all the details and upload required maps for seeking building and other permissions. The required fee payment could be either made online through credit/debit card or through demand draft at Mee Seva services.

“Most of the complaints from citizens relate to town planning hence, we are initiating this facility which will speed up the processing and also fix accountability on officers concerned to act in time,” he said, adding that a time frame for processing the applications would be fixed and officials who delay beyond the same would be liable for a penalty of Rs.50 per day.

An online application as it moves from one officer to another and one section to another would get date stamped, which would give a clear picture on the progress of processing. “Our officials and staff who visit a site for inspection and verification will have to click a picture and append it to the file and thus entire history of the file is available at a click,” Mr.Somesh Kumar said.

The new system when introduced would not only ensure that citizens’ applications were not delayed unnecessarily but also usher in transparency, he observed.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner also decided to launch a campaign to spread information and awareness on various regulations such as setbacks and others to be followed for buildings. Apart from other modes, a booklet with relevant information, guidelines and rule provisions, all simplified for easy comprehension, would be launched soon, he said.

To tap social media

The GHMC also decided to tap into the social media to receive complaints and grievances and a mobile app was also being developed exclusively to enable citizens send photographs related to lapses in civic amenities.

The Commissioner also stressed the importance of receiving grievances and feedback from the citizens for better functioning and spoke about popularising the GHMC 24X7 grievance related toll free number 155304. “We receive just 300 or so grievances daily which I feel is very little compared to city’s size and a population of 70 lakhs,” he added.

 

PMPML to bring in online tests for new drivers and conductors

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The Times of India               03.01.2014

PMPML to bring in online tests for new drivers and conductors

PUNE: The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) will conduct an online test to hire drivers and conductors.

"The decision to conduct a online test for around 4,000 conductors and drivers was taken in a meeting of PMPML officials on Thursday. The aim of introducing online system is to improve the transparency in the recruitment process," said Prashant Jagtap, PMPML director, while addressing a news conference here on Thursday.

He said the test will be conducted with the help of Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL). The details of the test are yet to be finalized. The newly recruited drivers and conductors will be inducted to use new buses that are set to be procured.

The civic administration has been imparting advanced training to PMPML drivers. The drivers were trained on simulators for safe driving in December.

Electronic route boards for PMPML buses

Around 650 buses will have electronic route boards. The boards will give details of the route on which the bus will commute. "Commuters will be able to get details of the route and halts. These boards will be clearly visible even during night time," said Prashant Jagtap, PMPML director. The decision to add these boards was taken in the meeting of PMPML directors on Thursday, he added.

 

Geographic information system for all civic bodies

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Deccan Chronicle                31.12.2013

Geographic information system for all civic bodies

Picture for representational purpose only.

Rajahmundry: A Geographic Information System will be set up in 130 municipal corporations and municipalities in order keep track of developments and help the civic authorities plan several developmental works in the state in a year.

State town and country plan director P. Thimma Reddy held a review meeting with the civic officials from both the Godavari and Krishna districts here on Monday.

Later, he told newsmen that the GIS would enable them to keep tab on developments in the cities and towns and plan the development of infrastructure and amenities.

He said that they were even planning to set up GIS even in urban panchayats.

Thimma Reddy said that they were planning to accept applications online for plan approval for building constructions in the state and added that they were also making efforts to clear the applications received under Building Penalisation Scheme.

He said that they were availing information technology to ensure transparency in the functioning of the civic bodies.

Stating that 450 posts were vacant in the town planning wing in municipal corporations and municipalities, he said that they had written to the government and also to the State Public Service Commission to fill the vacancies.

 

Soon, you can report dug-up patches on civic pothole tracking website

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The Indian Express               31.12.2013

Soon, you can report dug-up patches on civic pothole tracking website

To plug one of the major causes for the bad roads in the city, the BMC is now working to extend the services of its pothole-tracking website www.voiceofcitizen.com to trenching works underway.

It is estimated that annually over 400 km of the city's road network is dug up for laying utility lines. According to the standing technical advisory committee for the civic roads department, trenching work carried out post-monsoon by over 28 external agencies is a major cause for road deterioration. Due to frequent digging, the sub-base of a newly laid road is destroyed leading to early appearance of potholes during monsoon.

"We are working on the portal to facilitate complaints regarding poor trenching work. Citizens will be able to upload photos of work where roads are dug up and not relaid properly. This will help us keep track of the contractors and the utility agencies that are required to fill up the patches roads properly," said Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Srinivas.

He added that the new system will be rolled out within a month.

This year, contrary to its previous stand of holding utility agencies responsible for poor trenching work, the corporation took up the initiative to fill the dug-up patches. A Rs 82-crore tender for appointing contractors was floated in June. Companies participating in the tender process bid 35 to 45 per cent lower than the estimated cost. As a result of the poor response, the civic standing committee has delayed approving the proposal for over six months now.

"Once the proposal is cleared and the contractors are appointed, only then can we put this tracking system in motion. To ensure quality, we have raised the performance guarantee component of the contract to 20 per cent. It is urgent that we finalise the tender soon as the trenching work will pick up in the next two weeks," Srinivas said.

Standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale said the committee delayed approval as it sought clarifications on few aspects of the tender. "It was not clear that the tender applies to work for trenches dug by all agencies. We also asked the administration to recover some of the charges from the utility agencies."

A complaint registered on the website will be relayed to the road engineer in charge of the stretch, who will then have to ensure the trench-filling work is carried out as per the standards"

"We are working on how the engineers and the contractors will be assessed for the work. Unlike the problem of potholes, whose responsibility solely lies with the BMC, the problem of badly filled trenches is external. There are different dynamics at work here. As per the contracts, we will levy charges on the utility service providers," Srinivas said.

 


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