Appreciating the digital interventions made by the Registration Department in promoting citizen-centric and hassle-free registrations, Secretary Revenue, Dr Piyush Singla, has asked the department to adopt best practices from other States/UTs to ensure assured service delivery to the citizens with minimum human interface.
Speaking at the maiden review meeting of Registration Department, Secretary stressed upon the importance of putting in place a robust technical support system of professionals at central level for attending to development, capacity and enhancement issues of NGDRS application besides its implementation, maintenance and sustainability.
He called for roping in DIOs of NIC at the district headquarters in consultation with SDU, NIC Pune who could be instrumental in addressing the local issues of Sub-Registrars at district headquarters/ Sub Divisional level as per requirement.
Dr Singla took a comprehensive review of registration scenario and the new initiatives being implemented by the Registration Department. IGR J&K, AIGRK/J. Officers of Revenue Department, District Registrars and Sub Registrars attended the meeting both in person and virtually.
The meeting deliberated on various aspects of document registration from slot booking to the acceptance of the document on the NGDRS portal. The meeting was informed that registration of documents is conducted online through the NGDRS portal in all the 86 Sub-Registrar offices.
The slew of reforms introduced in the department viz. online booking of slot, document submission/ uploading, online payment of stamp duty and registration fee, linking of checklist of documents with Articles/Instruments, PAN verification, SMS alerts, Rapid Assessment System etc. have not only promoted transparency in document registration but also eliminated the waiting period, frivolous bookings and scope of discretion in registration.
This has also resulted in sturdy increase in registration and revenue collection. IGR J&K and his team of officers gave a detailed presentation on the registration and revenue collections, potential of the department, initiatives undertaken, facilities available in the Sub Registrar offices in the form of equipment, machinery.
A separate presentation was given on NGDRS portal, its existing work flow and linkages with various portals like SHCIL, LRIS, RAS, e-GRAS, JK Bank, PAN, Digi-Locker etc and further improvements/interventions required.
Dr Singla asked the department to put an institutional arrangement in place wherein final copy of the registered document could be made available to the citizen on his login on the NGDRS portal to enable him to download the document from any location without any encumbrances and without having to visit the Sub Registrar office twice.
For this purpose, the department will also explore the possibility of use of e-sign of parties and digital signatures of the Registering Officers. Secretary Revenue also highlighted the importance of dedicated helpline/call centre exclusively of the Registration Department to address the grievances of the public and respond to queries of officers/officials.
He desired that a chatbot be positioned in the departmental website to respond to the queries of the general public. While reviewing functioning of CCTVs with two-way audio in Sub Registrar Offices, Secretary Revenue directed that a central panel be installed in IGR Office by 20thof March, 2023 for furthering transparency in the working of the Sub-Registrar Offices.
He also directed the department to propose required amendments in the Registration Act, 1908 to pave way for implementation of other citizen friendly initiatives in a time bound manner on the pattern of other States.
Reiterating the importance of e-Office, Secretary directed the Sub Registrars to fully switch over to e-office before 31st of March 2023 for all official correspondences.
On the occasion, the Sub Registrars gave suggestions for bringing in further improvement in the NGDRS portal for the benefit of general public. Also, a plan was drawn for suggesting improvements/interventions in the NGDRS portal in consultation with SDU NIC Pune for implementation.