E-Governance

Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation starts LBT e-payment facility

Monday, 09 December 2013 12:10 administrator

The Times of India 09.12.2013

Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation starts LBT e-payment facility

KOLHAPUR: While traders under the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation (SMKMC) object to the implementation of local body tax (LBT) in its jurisdiction, the corporation has gone ahead with its plan to provide electronic payment facility for traders paying the tax.

More than 7,000 traders conduct their businesses in the three towns of Sanlgi, Miraj and Kupwad and are eligible for LBT payment. The SMKMC was the last local governing body to come under LBT cover in the state in May 21 this year.

SMKMC deputy commissioner Omprakash Divatay said, "Bank accounts have been opened in Union Bank of India, Axis Bank as well as IDBI Bank as these banks have core banking system. The traders have been given the details such as the account number and the IFSC code so that they can start transferring monthly taxes electronically. It will save their time as they can do away with the old ways of manual registration at the bank and the tedious job of saving payment receipts as they would be stored electronically."

Divatay added, "The corporation was in talks with a couple of public sector banks for starting the online payment gateway facility for LBT. The civic body and officials of banks interested in offering the facility held some meetings over the issue and decided to implement it at the earliest. The system is aimed at simplifying tax payment facilities for traders as well corporation officials as the tax would be deposited directly into the account of the civic body."

The traders in the city had recently told district guardian minister Patangrao Kadam that they were still against the implementation of LBT. Kadam had assured them of taking the issue to the chief minister.

A trader said, on the condition of anonymity, "Earlier, there was a lot of speculation about tax assessment and collection. I later realized that the LBT structure is easier and should not be protested against on baseless grounds. I have started paying the tax and the electronic payment facility will save my time."

Assistant accountant of the corporation Arun Jadhav said, "The electronic payment facility has been welcomed by many traders in the city, who have started paying the tax. More than 2,000 traders in the city have obtained their LBT registration number and have started paying the tax every month. The tax collection in November alone was Rs 6.17 crore and we are expected to touch the Rs 7-crore mark by December 20, the deadline for tax payment. The new facility will definitely speed up the tax collection procedure."

LMC ties up with 37 banks to facilitate online tax payment

Saturday, 07 December 2013 09:53 administrator

The Times of India 07.12.2013

LMC ties up with 37 banks to facilitate online tax payment

LUCKNOW: In a bid to extend online payment facilities to most residents, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation has now tied up with 37 banks. People can pay house tax either through netbanking services of these banks or use Debit ( ATM) or credit card to pay through LMC's officials website.

Earlier, the corporation had agreement with only four banks for house tax payment -- HDFC, SBI, PNB and ICICI. Hence, people having accounts in these four banks had the benefit to pay online but now with support of 37 banks, other bank account holders can use the online facility of Nagar Nigam.

Additional Municipal Commissioner, PK Srivastava said, "The tie-ups have been done to expand our services for residents who faced problems while coming to our office and making payments. This will save their time and also improve tax collection."

LMC feels the expansion of banks would increase collection by up to 5-6% in last four months of this financial year. This year, LMC targets to achieve Rs 100 crore as house tax by March 2014 out of which it has collected roughly around Rs 65 crore

SARATHI draws national attention, PCMC corporators cut to size

Monday, 02 December 2013 05:36 administrator

The Indian Express 02.12.2013

SARATHI draws national attention, PCMC corporators cut to size

Even as top officers from across the country, including those from the Central government, are descending on Pimpri-Chinchwad to take a peek into this e-governance initiative that has earned national acclaim for Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, SARATHI continues to blaze a trail. While citizens in the twin industrial town are increasingly taking to SARATHI, corporators are grumbling that they are fast losing their importance and identity.

SARATHI, a short form for System of Assisting Residents and Tourists Through Helpline Information, was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Independence Day this year. In just over 100 days, the SARATHI helpline centre (8888 00 6666) has received as many as 5,747 complaints from citizens, of which 90 per cent are claimed to have been resolved. As many 10,636 calls have been received from citizens seeking information regarding various civic services, civic departments, modes of making applications, seeking permissions and related things.

As on December 1, 2013,

the SARATHI website (pcmchelpline.in) had received 39,000 hits. On an average, it receives 152 calls per day and 361 hits on its website. Of these, 65 per cent are information seekers and 35 per cent are complainants.

What has wowed the residents is the fact that the solution to their grievance remains just a call away as also "crucial information" regarding documents to be submitted for getting their applications for various work processed. "We had lodged a complaint with SARATHI regarding the tiles loosely fixed on the road near our residence. PCMC officials visited us the very next day and the work started and finished in no time," said Anita Landge, a resident of Kasarwadi.

Suhas Kulkarni (43), a resident of Shubham Society, Shahu Nagar, had a complaint that his society had not received water for two days. "The complaint was filed on October 27 and in two days, the officials told us that my complaint had been resolved. I also received an SMS to the effect. Since then, we haven't had any water problem."

Chandrakant Wable (40) of Shivtej Nagar, Chinchwad, had filed a complaint about overflowing drainage chamber, which was creating health hazard in the area. "I had filed my complaint on November 28, after which the chamber has not overflowed. I have received an SMS from SARATHI stating that my complaint has been resolved," he said.

Residents said they didn't have to rush to corporators and wait for days to get their grievances redressed. "By just making a call if citizens get information and their grievance is resolved in quick time, why go to corporators," asked Sachin Godambe, a resident of Bhosari.

The SARATHI call centre functions from at 7 am to 10 pm. Residents usually call up as early as possible. On Sunday, the first call was received at 7.30 am from one Laxmikant Borkar of Yeshwant Nagar. The majority of complaints are regarding overflowing drainage lines, leaking water pipelines, dog menace and potholes.

After a complaint is received, SARATHI officials immediately sound the department concerned or senior officials. The complainant is given a token number. After the complaint is resolved, officials update the call centre that then sends a compliance report to the complainant. "Some complaints, like leaking water pipelines, are taken up on priority, meaning they are to be resolved in one day, while others related to policy decision require some time," said an official.

Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said when SARATHI was launched, it provided information about only 28 civic departments. "Recently, we also started giving out information related to ration card, voter ID card, Aadhar card, district collectorate, MIDC, passport office, RTI, IGR and other government departments," he said. The PCMC has also come out with a SARATHI mobile app for Android and BlackBerry phones that can be downloaded for free.

The PCMC chief said they had also set up a Quality Monitoring Cell to keep track if the complaints received were being looked into. "We crosscheck whether a complaint has been resolved to the satisfaction of the citizens or not. Or, whether it has been wrongly resolved," he said.

However, Pardeshi said, SARATHI's thrust was basically information disclosure. "Under RTI Act also, it has become mandatory for voluntary disclosure of information. The helpline is an offshoot of the system," he said. The civic chief said they would launch a publicity blitzkrieg from Monday to reach out to the masses.

On Saturday, a delegation of top officers, including additional secretaries, deputy secretaries and joint secretaries from across the country, visited PCMC headquarters in Pimpri to have first-hand experience of the e-governance system. The delegation included officers from Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karantaka, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa and Rajasthan. The visit was arranged by the information technology department of the Central government.

"The officers who were given a demonstration of the system spoke highly about it and also talked about replicating it in their homes states," said a PCMC official.

Civic body to monitor garbage carrying trucks at Naregaon dumping yard

Saturday, 30 November 2013 10:41 administrator

The Times of India 30.11.2013

Civic body to monitor garbage carrying trucks at Naregaon dumping yard

AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said on Friday that it would install cameras at the main entrance of Naregaon dumping yard to monitor the movements of garbage carrying trucks at the yard in the first of December.

Ravindra Nikam, deputy municipal commissioner and in-charge of solid waste management in the AMC, said the system would record entry of trucks loaded with garbage. "It will be reviewed at regular intervals to see whether the trucks are carrying garbage as per the set standards. It is expected that all the trucks should be filled to its capacity," he said.

In the solid waste management department, the civic body has roped in private contractors, who are responsible for picking up garbage from various collection points in the city and dumping it at the yard. "But many corporators and general public have repeatedly said that the trucks reaching the yards are not filled to capacity. The municipal corporation is paying the contractors on the basis of number of trips they undertake every day. It has also been alleged that some of the private contractors are manipulating the system to increase their number of trips," Nikam said.

The civic body has engaged 64 trucks for solid waste management which make 150-160 trip to the yard every days. Of the 64 trucks, private contractors manage 29 trucks while the rest belong to the AMC.

Earlier, the civic body had made attempts to install a weighing bridge at Naregoan dumping yard and fix CCTV cameras to monitor the system. However, the proposals could not see light of the day.

Besides, the civic body also claimed on Friday that it is lifting 90 tonnes of additional solid waste every day from the city. This is in addition to its regular solid waste management of about 400 tonnes a day.

Nikam said six different teams comprising seven employees each had been deployed to lift garbage from various areas in the city during afternoon. "We are already taking care of garbage during morning hours. Regular AMC employees dispose of the garbage generated in various wards. However, the process was not enough and hence, we have now introduced separate teams which are collecting garbage between 1pm and 5pm," he added.

BMC starts web-based parking in south Mumbai

Saturday, 30 November 2013 07:43 administrator

The Indian Express 30.11.2013

BMC starts web-based parking in south Mumbai

To keep track of vehicles parked in public spots, BMC has now started a web-based parking project. In a pilot initiative, the project has been implemented in parking lots near Eros Cinema and Regal Cinema in south Mumbai.

The project is aimed at producing computerised parking receipts, the data of which will be transferred to a centralised system.

"Space is a major problem in the city. You will find cars parked on footpaths. With this initiative, we want to tackle the problem of parking," said additional municipal commissioner S V R Srinivas.

While the pilot project has been implemented in South Mumbai this month, BMC plans to extend it across the city. "We will look for loopholes and examine the technical details before implementing it across the city," Srinivas added.

The BMC software will record the number of cars or any other vehicle being parked, its type and model, entry and exit time and number of hours it was parked. The administration also plans to bring the system online. "We have to look into other details there. Suppose a person books a spot from 10-11 am but reaches there at 10.30 am, then what is to be done? Once we get the backbone of this system, we will also look into online booking," added Srinivas.

Meanwhile, corporators opposed the involvement of additional contractors, namely software companies that will be involved in the data-entry of the vehicles. Congress Corporator and standing committee member Pravin Chheda said, "We can involve the Mahila Bachat Ghats or even existing contractors for the project. Why can't the civic body work towards their benefit by employing them?"

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