Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced a six month deadline for completion of all governance reforms initiated in the Local Bodies department besides deciding to provide all citizen centric services to the people on a single click through online system.On the basis of feedback gathered from the ground level, the Deputy chief minister asked the officials of the Local Bodies department to cross check whether all the initiatives announced by the government had been really implemented at the ground level or not.Announcing that Municipal Commissioners would be held personally responsible for implementation of all citizen centric measures, he said the Mission Mode committee formed for this purpose, which included both officers and political representatives, would also shortly visit urban areas and collect first hand information on implementation of the initiatives.
Chairing the meeting of senior officers of various departments in the presence of Punjab Chief Secretary Mr. Rakesh Singh, the Deputy CM said his vision was to provide all the citizen centric services to common masses on a single click through online system and this mission should be completed in one year’s time. He said people should not have to visit offices in Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils or committees for getting approvals and sanctions related to the department. He also directed the Director Local Bodies Mr. Priyank Bharti to form field monitoring teams under senior officers and he too should personally conduct field visits to adjudge the problems being faced by the common masses.
Disclosing his futuristic vision for the facilitation of urban population, Badal said that a unique ID would be generated for each and every household in a system, which will comprise all the details, services and pendency of bills etc. of consumers. He said there would be no manual updating of civic services in urban areas and their all records would be computerized. The Deputy CM asked Director Local Bodies to get the ongoing projects expedited so the mission of Punjab Government having 100 percent sewerage, water supply system, complete street lights and solid waste management could be achieved at the earliest. He further added that Citizen Facilitation Centers (CFCs) will also be setup in all the towns and villages to provide all 149 citizen centric services at nearest point from the residences of urban population. He also directed that the officers and employees of key departments including Local Bodies, Revenue, Police, Power and Excise and Taxation putting hindrances, if any, at ground level will be held responsible and they would have to face the music.
Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Mr. Tota Singh, Former Minister, Mr. Daljeet Singh Cheema, MLA, Mr. Tikshan Sud, Advisor to CM, Mr. Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Political Advisor to CM, Mr. S.K. Sandhu, Principal Secretary to CM, Mr. Jagpal Singh Sandhu, Principal Secretary Home, Mr. P.S. Aujla, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM, Mr. C. Roul, Principal Secretary Governance Reforms, Mr. D.P. Reddy, Principal Secretary Excise and Taxation, Mr. J.M. Balamurgam Special Secretary Local Bodies, Mr Gaggandip Singh Brar Special Principal Secretary to CM, Mrs. Kavita Mohan Singh, Director Governance Reforms, Mr. Anurag Verma, Excise and Taxation Commissioner.