The Times of India 21.12.2010
MCD’s info kiosk project hits a roadblock
— that aims to bring its services to the doorstep of residents has hit a
roadblock. Of 2000 information kiosks, which were to be operational by
October 2010, only 100 have been installed in the city. Of these, none
are functional.
Sources say the proposal was put on hold, as
the company, which was given the contract, didn’t make the payments to
MCD in time.
These kiosks were designed to provide information on railway timings and services provided by MCD and Delhi
government. As per the initial proposal, these were also supposed to
offer facilities for payment of utility bills and option to register
public grievances. But in the kiosks that have been installed so far,
the options are missing.
The contract for the project was given
to Hyderabad-based Bartronics. “This unique initiative would have
helped MCD connect better with citizens. But the project got stuck in
the implementation phase,” said a senior MCD official.
With this Rs 800-crore project, which was to function on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer
(BOOT) basis, the civic agency would have earned revenue worth Rs 101
crore every year. The project was stopped midway due to financial
reasons. The kiosks were to be placed near residential colonies so that
information and services are available to citizens near to their place
of residence. “The company is yet to the make payment to MCD. But we are
also told there were issues related to the site where kiosks were
supposed to be put up,” said an MCD official.
“This is a
citizen-friendly project. The project still stands, but there are some
issues which need to be sorted out before we re-start the project. We
are examining the matter and will soon restore it,” said Deep Mathur,
spokesperson, MCD. Officials said the main source of revenue for the
company that has been implementing the project will be service charges
collected from concerned government departments and advertisements. “In
the second phase, these kiosk are meant to provide information on
hotels, hospitals, nearby doctors, chemist shops, pet shops etc,” said
an MCD official.
