Who would have thought of taking government services to the doorstep of common citizens? The norm in government is to draw people to the office, make them stand in serpentine queues, make them fill a mountain of forms and then call them back again the next week. Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte has a different approach. His department has decided to unleash ‘Gramin Mitras’ who will be equipped with a projector, laptop, camera, scanner, printer and mobile internet. These ‘mitras’ will arrive at your doorstep to give you information of the various schemes launched by the government, accept applications for residential, divergent, income and other certificates which will be printed on the spot. Documents produced by the applicant will be scanned on the spot, photographs will be clicked and embedded in the application in a jiffy and, in general, life for those who dread visiting a government office will be more bearable than the fires of hell. The service will be launched on a pilot basis in two constituencies and then extended to all parts of Goa.
A service of this nature is unheard of in Goa. It goes against the spirit of the bureaucratic system inherited from colonial rulers which was aimed at subjugating the native Indian and breaking his spirit. This system became a tool in the hands of Indian governments and talk of governance has emerged only in recent years. What Khaunte is attempting is ambitious in scope. In theory, it should work because internet connectivity is available and the equipment given to each ‘mitra’ covers almost everything. The only problem with governments is maintenance and upkeep of equipment. Secondly, servers, which perform all the back-end work need to be fast and furious. Thirdly, all data on individual citizens needs to be collected and linked to the Aadhaar card.
The burning question is, can this service be extended to all government departments? Goa is a small place and coverage of all villages by ‘gramin mitras’ is possible. It would make sense to extend the service to people in far flung places and then to those living closer to city centres where government offices are located. A token system would help streamline delivery of service and allow each ‘gramin mitra’ to plan his or her schedule in advance. In this respect there is a lesson to be learnt from courier services which optimize travel time and also allow consumers to track the route and predict delivery.
This scheme dovetails into everything that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to do which is, use IT technology to take the government closer to the people and make delivery of services easier and more efficient. It could take a while for this service to gain traction, but then Khaunte is a determined man who just might deliver the impossible.
The question is, can this be extended for all govt services?
