The Hindu 07.01.2015
Now get birth, death certificates online
State well ahead in e-governance, says Minister
The public can now download government-approved and
tamper-proof birth/death/marriage certificates directly from the
Internet, without having to go to the panchayat or municipality offices,
thanks to the software developed by the Information Kerala Mission
(IKM), as part of its e-governance mission.
All
births and deaths occurring in hospitals are being directly registered
and stored in the databank through 529 hospital kiosks in public and
private hospitals across the State. The IKM is also in the process of
making available on-line, all birth and death registrations in the State
since 1970, which is a mammoth task, the Minster for Panchayats and
Social Welfare, M. K. Muneer, said here on Tuesday.
Kerala
has taken a quantum leap in e-governance and is ahead of any other
State in the country, with a host of software applications that has been
developed for making public utility services easy and accessible to
people, he said, while addressing mediapersons. The IKM will soon be
setting up information kiosks in all grama panchayats with touch-screen
facility, which will provide information to people on all the services
that can availed of from the local bodies. In the first phase,
birth/death/marriage registration certificates, building permits,
property tax and all applications regarding social security pensions
will be made available on-line, Dr. Muneer said. The IKM is also in the
process of developing a single-window system which will bring together
all on-line public utility services through the website, Surekha.
Applications for availing oneself of various services from the
government can be submitted on-line or “e-filed” with digital signature
once this becomes full-fledged.
The IKM has completed
linking all grama panchayats in Idukki district, except Edamalakkudi,
via fibre optics network as part of a national project. By March 31, all
the 978 grama panchayats will be linked. Steps were also on to
establish “wifi hotspots” in all grama panchayats under the Smart
Panchayat project,Dr. Muneer said.
Software developed by Information Kerala Mission Information kiosks to be set up in all grama panchayats
