The Hindu 28.05.2013
Civic body website yet to be completed
Thirteen years after it was planned, the website of the Delhi Municipal Corporations is yet to become functional causing much inconvenience to residents of the Capital.
The civic agency has not been able to fulfil its promise even after spending Rs.12 crore in the past 10 years. And now, in an attempt to complete the website, the civic body has decided to invest an additional Rs. 58 crore.
Presently there is a lot of information and links on the civic body’s website, www.mcdonline.gov.in. But when it comes to online bookings and payment for services, it is yet to deliver.
Even though civic officials claim the portal will start functioning “as soon as possible”, the absence of a smoothly-functioning online platform connecting the residents with their civic bodies has crippled their online activities. Once the portal starts functioning, one can do a variety of tasks – such as getting birth and death certificates and paying property taxes – online.
Sources said the initial budget for the web portal was slated to be Rs.13 crore, but now it has gone up to Rs.70 crore.
Last year, the civic body was trifurcated into South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). Sources in the civic body said the website was supposed to be finished before the trifurcation. After the trifurcation, the three civic bodies were supposed to have their own websites. “We are getting the work done by competent agencies. Due to some unavoidable reasons, the entire project got delayed but in recent months the progress is satisfactory. So we are expecting that the work would be completed soon. We will come up with a brilliant online platform, which will facilitate works getting done online. There will be three different websites with different policies,” the official added.
