With ₹375-crore allocation, civic body to shift more services online

CURRENTLY, THERE ARE 60 ONLINE SERVICES AND 53 MORE WILL BE ADDED BY JUNE 2019

MUMBAI: To make it easier for citizens to avail various civic services, the civic body will now look to make more services available online.

Currently, there are 60 online services and 53 more will be added by June 2019. For this, the BMC has allocated ₹375 crore for IT reforms in the 2019-20 budget. About 95% of the civic body’s revenue is collected online. Some of the current online civic services are property tax collection, approval of building permits, water and sewerage connections, Ganpati and Navratri mandal permissions and building tenancy transfers — one of the latest services. The civic body hopes that the online system will also reduce paperwork for citizens and the waiting period, as it has done in case of permissions related to construction.

In the next financial year, some of the upcoming online services include Ease of Doing Business (EODB), Geographical Information System (GIS), Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), Vehicle Tracking and Monitoring System (VTMS) for solid waste management and stormwater drains.

The HMIS got the largest allocation of ₹206.25 crore, to cover all aspects of health care. The system provides a unique health card to patients, which helps doctors to avail all information about the patients.

Activist Godrey Pimenta said, “Although the online system seems good, it might not really reflect on the ground. The online building permits might work for smaller projects, but big projects still need more transparency.”

Nayan Shah, president, MCHCREDAI, said, “While the BMC’S online permission with regards to building permissions is transparent and quick, it needs to collaborate with other agencies like civil aviation, environment ministries where files are stuck and developers are harassed.”