Doorstep delivery yet to resume, people forced to travel to offices
NEW DELHI: Shikhar Arora (18), a resident of Krishna Nagar, east Delhi, on Thursday returned disappointed from the subdivisional magistrate’s office as he couldn’t get an income certificate of his family, which he needs urgently to apply to the Delhi University.
Arora, who is seeking admission to a BA Pass course, said he won’t be able to apply under the economically weaker section (EWS) category without the income certificate to show that he is eligible. “I have been going to the office for nearly a month, but have not been able to get the certificate. They have now asked me to apply online,” he said.
Issuance of income certificate is one of the 70 services provided by the Delhi government under its ambitious doorstep delivery of services project, which was launched in September 2018. However, it was suspended this March in view of the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). While the government has further relaxed restrictions from July 1, under the Unlock 2.0 plan, the Delhi government is yet to restart the doorstep service delivery project.
Under the Delhi government project, 70 services from 10 different departments, including those of social welfare, transport, and food and supplies,among others, were being provided to citizens at their doorstep.
An official at the East Delhi district office said, “Currently, only the registry of property is being done manually. For all other certificates, citizen have to apply online.”The office is also in the process of setting up help desks to help applicants fill up online forms, he said.
Ananya Mandal (18) is seeking admission to BA (Hons) in Economics at DU and she had visited the SDM’s office in Mehrauli to get an OBC (other backward class) certificate, a mandatory document to apply under the OBC quota.
A senior official at SDM Mehrauli said, “We are accepting applications online. We are trying to clear all EWS and income certificate related applications at the earliest as these are required by students.”