Over the years, the online shift of various citizen services in Kerala have happened in fits and start. Often, projects launched with lofty goals have failed to achieve their intended aims. Some services, especially building permit application, continued to be accessed more manually even after the launch of online applications, defeating the entire purpose of the shift.
Drawing on the failures in the previous attempts to shift citizen services completely online, the State government has built in safeguards in the implementation of K-Smart, the local self-government department’s comprehensive online platform for all major citizen services, set to be launched on New year’s day. Unlike in the previous attempts, there will not be the option for manual processing, especially of building permits. Helpdesks will be set up in all local bodies to provide assistance to the public as well as the employees to ensure a smooth transition to the new system.
Tracking progress
In the past, there has been some level of resistance on the part of the licensed designers and contractors as well as some employees to the online shift of building permit applications, as it became harder to manipulate the system to get files passed with a drawing of their choice. With the proper file tracking system as part of K-Smart, it will become easy to track the progress of each file and whether any official is delaying action on particular files. The phenomenon of files disappearing will also be a thing of the past.
“The government is aware of the fact that a handful of people will not be very keen on the implementation of a transparent online system. For instance, when we introduced self certification of building permit application for low risk buildings of limited area, there have been cases where the applicants were made to visit the local body’s office, when there was no need for the same. So, while implementing K-Smart, the option to do these manually is not being provided. As long as such an option is there, the online shift will not succeed. There might indeed be some issues initially. But, to ensure a smooth transition, we have help desks in all local bodies as well as a rapid response team at the headquarters of the Information Kerala Mission (IKM),” said Local Self-Governments Minister M.B. Rajesh.
In the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the online shift of building permit applications initially led to the piling up hundreds of applications in 2019, due to glitches in the system. The entire system was shifted back to manual for the next two years, until the online system was revived again in 2021.
Various services
Now, the different online applications for various services will be replaced by K-Smart, which will bring together nine major citizen services, including civil registration (issuing of birth, death and marriage certificates), issuing of building permits, trade licences, payment of property taxes, and public grievance redressal. More modules and services will be added to K-Smart in the near future. While urban local bodies will shift entirely to the new system from Monday, the panchayats will shift from April.
