Since its inception, MyVisit, a portal created by the Union government to take all appointments with ministers and bureaucrats online has received nearly 24 lakh visitors and has about 229 government departments linked to it.
PANAJI
Visitors all over India can seek appointments with over 11,000 government officers and ministers at the click of a button.
Some of the prominent States which are making use of the portal are Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Goa is yet to avail this service.
Currently, if any one needs to meet the Chief Minister, he has to either visit or call the Chief Minister’s office, provide details including name, contact number and the reason for appointment. Following this request, the citizen at the earliest gets a reply from the office about the time for the appointment.
When asked about the same, Information technology Minister Rohan Khaunte said, “Presently, people can come and meet us directly during our public hours. When we speak about e-services, any new technology is welcome as long as it eases the life of a common man. In this case, basically it is the youth who can and will be able to do it. But the generation which come to the secretariat and minister’s block are people who belong to the elderly category.”
Khaunte further assured to peruse the application and examine if it could be utilised for the benefit of citizens.
Department officials told The Goan that even though a specific time slot had been allocated for public visits, people just visit the offices with their problems at any given time.
“Sometimes we have meetings in the department and there are even instances when the ministers come and visit our offices. Secondly, we have to travel on field visits. When people come to the department, they expect us to solve their problems or at least attend to them,” pointed out a director.
Another deputy director informed, “There are instances when citizens call the department and we are unable to attend the same. In such cases, we have experienced people using abusive language with our staff.”
But with the world moving fast towards digitisation, what if Goa too links itself with MyVisit? The citizen has to register with the Aadhaar or another valid personal id. He has to then select the office and officer with whom appointment is sought. Additionally, the preferred slots for date and time have to be given. This request is then submitted to the concerned officer who will schedule the appointment based on his engagements. The visitor gets email and SMS alert on his mobile phone as soon as the appointment is fixed.
Heads of government departments opined that it would be better for them as people will visit them at a specific designated time. The ministers however stated that they would be open to the idea, but in the same breath stated that they would even prefer to meet the citizen in person.
