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MAPUSA
If all goes well, citizens of Mapusa will soon be able to apply for NOC for power and water connection from home.
With an aim to provide public service at the doorsteps, the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) will soon issue income certificate, renewal of trade licence and NOC for power and water connection online.
In another major step toward e-governance, the civic body has also decided to digitize all records including those from the past.
"The move is to make it more convenient for the public so that they can sit at home and apply. They can also upload their documents. Once they apply, they will get an SMS that their application has been inwarded on so and so date. Once it is cleared also they will get an SMS alert," said Chief Officer, Clen Madeira.
The civic body has invited an expression of interest from reputed firms to develop and manage software for systems like renewal of trade licence, issuing income certificate, power and water connections, online work-flow system for application and file tracking system.
The municipal council also seeks to provide SMS-based intimation system for tracking of its service and maintenance of website of the council.
"What we do, we want to put on public domain. Once the website is upgraded, we will put the tenders and council resolutions online so that everyone can view it," Madeira said.
He further said digitization of council documents was another huge step of the municipal council in an effort to make the administration paperless.
"Almost 3 lakh documents of old record will be digitized and all these old records will be available in soft copies," he said.
The chief officer also said the civic body wants to put file management system in place where movement of each and every file will be tracked online.
"In this system, we will come to know in which department the file has been stuck and who is responsible for it," he said.
He said work will happen faster and there will be more transparency in the working of the civic body.
The chief officer said he expects the whole system of online service and digitisation to be completed within six months after work is tendered to a firm.
But, MMC has poor record of keeping its word, most resolutions only on paper
MAPUSA: The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) is known to make a lot of promises and pass resolutions but most of these resolutions and decisions remain on paper.
A year back, MMC, Chief Officer, Clen Madeira had made a similar commitment to secure an International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) certificate 37001 for the Mapusa civic body with the grand intention to make MMC India's first anti-bribery certified municipal council.
But till today, nothing has happened on this front.
"The plan did not go forward but I will pursue it now. The code for ISO 37001 had not been launched then and that's why it got delayed. The matter also got held back due to assembly and panchayat elections," Madeira said.
The ISO certification was supposed to help the MMC improve its services and achieve a standard on par with international agencies.
