Chandigarh Administration is committed to bridge the digital divide by extending
the application of IT for the benefit of the common man. After the successful launch
of the Sampark Centres and in the second phase of the e-Governance initiative, the
Administration has identified to provide the information about services of various
departments and also to provide information and facilitation to residents regarding
private services and other Government of India services from the 70 e-Jan Sampark
kiosks which are to be set up in each sector and each village of Chandigarh. The
e-Jan Sampark project will enable residents to access information and avail of services
from the kiosks with ease, and without any harassment. These Centres will also enable
the citizen to submit their grievances at a common centre and their quick redressal
thereafter.
Jan Sampark project targets that the benefits of ICT should reach the masses, especially
those who are without IT connectivity by providing easy dissemination of Information
Services to a citizen and to deliver useful non transactional services e.g registration
of grievances and applications seeking information under RTI for all departments
at a easily accessible common place.
Jan Sampark Vision
1. Bring the administration closer to all the sections of the society especially under
privileged.
2. Provide a single, efficient information dissemination system to the citizen for
availing government services by minimising multiple interaction points for the citizen
and hence reduce the wastage of valuable time
3. Provide for better turn around time in receipt, processing and issue of services.
4. Provide information services in a comfortable environment and make availing of the
information services a pleasant experience.
5. Registration of Grievances.
6. Giving substance to Right to Information Act.
As the next logical step to Sampark Centres, the Administration has set up e-Jan-Sampark
Centers, to disseminate useful free information services to the citizens. Every
Center supports multi service delivery (information delivery and non-transactional
services) which is a judicious mix of all the possible government services and information
and other localized services which are needed by a citizen.
This initiative targets that the benefits of ICT reach the people without PC and
internet connectivity and also saves their valuable time and money consumed in traveling
to government offices.
The type of services provided include
Information Services
All Procedures and Forms for all departments, which are frequently used by a common
man e.g How to apply for a birth/death certificate including procedure for late
entry, how to lodge a FIR, various forms and procedures concerning public offices
such as RLA, Estate Office, DC Office, Municipal Corporation, Engineering Wing etc.
Education and Health related information services e.g daily updated information
regarding availability of blood in Blood Bank of Govt Medical Hospital, Exam Results,
Information about availability of educational and health related facilities in each
sector etc.
Transport and Tourism related inquiries e.g Bus Routes, information relating to
tourism activities etc.
Inquiries relating to Passport status; Railway booking status, Train timings etc.
Providing access to all Government websites.
Other information like utility services available in each sector etc.
These services are provided free of cost except when the citizen needs any print
out, the same is available at a nominal cost per page of print out.
Grievances Redressal Services
The citizens will also be able to submit their grievances relating to any department
at these Centres. NIC has created a Grievance Monitoring System under which, whenever
any grievance is received at the Jan Sampark centre, the same will be scanned and
forwarded via email immediately to the Nodal Officer of every department who has
been specially appointed for the Jan Sampark services. The hard copy of the grievance
submitted by the citizen will also be sent to the Nodal Officer of the concerned
Department. A time line would be given to the concerned Nodal Officer for the redressal
of the grievance and under this Grievance Monitoring System, the Head of Department
would also be able to monitor the redressal of grievances online.
Right To Information (RTI) Services
On the lines of the receipt of the Grievances, a provision has also been made for
the submission of applications under the RTI at the Jan Sampark Centres alongwith
the statutory fee in the form of a Demand draft or Indian Postal Order. All such
applications will be received and the same will be delivered to the Central Public
Information Officer of the concerned Department the same day. The applications will
be received at the Jan Sampark Centres with the prescribed fee of Rs 10/- per application
in the form of DD or IPO in the name of the concerned Department from which the
information has been sought, and the application alongwith the fee will be forwarded
to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the concerned Department and
it will be his duty to reply directly to the citizen alongwith the desired information
required by him, as per the RTI Act. If any further amount needs to be paid by the
applicant, it would be the duty of the CPIO to request for additional fee (as per
requirement) from the applicant directly and also the CPIO would reply to the applicant
directly apart from filing the Action Taken Report in the RTI Application System
created by NIC.
The Jan Sampark Centre would only be providing the facilitation services for the
receipt of RTI applications so that a common man does not need to visit each and
every office. The responsibility of submitting the information sought by the applicant
will be of the CPIO of the concerned department who will ensure that the information
is supplied to the applicant as per the provisions of the RTI Act.
Roll-Out
The e- Jan Sampark services are being available from e-Jan Sampark kiosk in Sector
20 and the e-Jan Sampark services will also be available from the Sampark Centres
situated in Sector 10, 15, 18, 23, 43, 47 Industrial Area and Mani Majra.
The other sites in Phase I which have been identified for setting up of e- Jan Sampark
Services are listed below, where work would start shortly.
Sector 9
Sector 11
Sector 17
Sector 22
Sector 32
Sector 35
Sector 38
Sector 40
Sector 45
The remaining Sectors in Chandigarh will also be covered by the establishment of
similar e-Jan Sampark Centres after the completion of sites in Phase I. These Services
will also be available in all the UT Villages from the Gram Sampark Centres, which
are likely to be launched in October 2006.
Expected Benefits
1. Government Services closer to the citizen.
2. Giving substance to Right to Information Act.
3. Better information dissemination.
4. Transparency & efficiency in government-citizen interface.
5. Life simpler for the common man.
6. Financially self sustainable model for information delivery free of cost to the
common man.