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Initially, developed as a supporting township for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad has emerged as an alternative in its own right with strong auto and auto-ancillary industries at its core. With the changing needs of this ever-growing city, there was a serious need to change the way in which the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation used to operate and serve its citizens. Pimpri-Chinchwad embarked on an integrated e-governance program named e-Suvidha aimed at ensuring economic development of the city by improving the quality of life of its citizens. This program involved providing universal access of municipal services to urban poor, improvement in the standard of education, and providing an efficient civic administration, among others.

Details
To start with, PCMC integrated its entire e-governance infrastructure. The implementation of e-governance also gave a new set of responsibilities to PCMC employees. The project involved around eleven corporation departments which are computerized. Of all the initiatives under e-Suvidha, the citizen facilitation center (CFCs) has been one of the most successful projects providing services to citizens with over 99% efficiency. The CFCs provides seventy-nine citizen centric services for over twelve corporation departments. The various CFCs work on a single window to provide one-stop service to citizens for PCMC. Another innovative project is the PCMC@home which provides corporation services directly at home through PCMC personnels.

Under the building permission management online service, a web-based software auto DCR has been implemented for approvals and issuing commencement and completion certificates. The users can apply online with maps and other information on garden, trees, drainage, etc, through this software and citizens are not required to visit the corporation for fee submission. Another service called the dashboard for works management is an integrated web-based software for monitoring and tracking the progress of work. This module is also integrated with financial data like budget approved for works, cost incurred and other information, which helps in keeping track of projects undertaken by PCMC. In addition, PCMC has initiated a GPS based vehicle tracking system. This system has been integrated with an interface which will assign waste pick-up and duty management.

In order to take its web-based citizen centric services to the next level, PCMC has an GIS mapping of 182 sq km area. This mapping has been developed for Geographical Information System for Dynamic Administration (GISDA) by Science and Technology Park and that integrates all databases and application services. GISDA helps citizens locate their properties for assessment details and payment of taxes online. Also the utility mapping feature of GISDA has helped PCMC to monitor the delivery of essential services such as water supply, drainage lines, roads, street lights, garbage bins, etc.

The e-Suvidha initiative has drastically reduced the hassles faced by citizens. Payment of charges and taxes online through payment gateway facilities has helped citizens save nearly three to four hours. Kiosks set up for different wards, zonal offices, and other public places have helped citizens who are not proficient with net banking and who are not able to avail web based facilities. A citizen charter has now been formed with each service to be delivered with minimum cost and time. The PCMC has appointed a strong in-house staff for technology maintenance and also takes the support of the Science and Technology Park (STP, Pune University) for other advisory services. Apart from this, STP also overlooks the web server maintenance for PCMC. Regular trainings are conducted for the in-house staff and personnel.

The PCMC has expedited the initial phase of e-Suvidha which includes the GISDA, ERP, and CFC from its own revenue sources. The next phase of e-Suvidha will be developed to bring on a single platform with the grants to be received by Government of India and Government of Maharashtra under the National Mission Mode for e-Governance.

Priya Kekre
priyak@cybermedia.co.in

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