New info system keeps Mehsana admn abreast of citizen problems

Amrut Patel,a petrol pump owner,had visited the collectorate last month.

“I had come to complain about a sealed kerosene stock kept at my petrol pump for several months. I requested the District Supply Officer (DSO) to take away the kerosene,but nothing was done. But when I approached the district collector,he took a note of it on the computer software. The moment I stepped out of the office,I received an SMS that the matter has been taken up with the DSO,” he said.

Karbha sarpanch Kanti Patel had a similar experience. He had appealed to expedite the process of sanctioning a fair price shop. A reminder was sent to the DSO through an SMS instantly with a direction for action within a month.

This is an attempt to maintain all out transparency in the system and to spruce up the functioning of the departments,he said.

“Most of the visitors have already done enough paperwork. If I ask them for more,they will be frustrated more. With the CIS,the paperwork is reduced,and there is a feel good factor when I know the details of an individual much in advance. This is done with the help of my personal assistant and National Informatics Centre (NIC) officials,” informed Bhadoo.

The system hardly takes time and visitors do not have to come again. They just have to inform the collector over phone if the work is not done on time.

“All the details are fed in the computer. If the concerned official fails to do the work,he can be reminded through SMS and the collector can ask why the work was not carried out within the stipulated timeframe,” said Mehsana NIC officials.