The recently-launched 'Aaple Sarkar', which gives citizens online access to Mantralaya's departments, is just one of many e-governance initiatives designed to ease the life of the common man- or so says the government. These are early days for e-governance in India, and there are many things to get right or to mess up. dna turns a critical eye to nine such initiatives launched in Maharashtra in the past year. Do they measure up to our stringent, non-partisan testing?
The recently-launched 'Aaple Sarkar', which gives citizens online access to Mantralaya's departments, is just one of many e-governance initiatives designed to ease the life of the common man- or so says the government. These are early days for e-governance in India, and there are many things to get right or to mess up. dna turns a critical eye to nine such initiatives launched in Maharashtra in the past year. Do they measure up to our stringent, non-partisan testing?
Aaple Sarkar
Website: https://www.maharashtra.gov.in/1180/Aaple-Sarkar
Use: The app can be downloaded to Android phones or the portal can be accessed on the internet.
What's hot: It presently covers various Mantralaya departments. District collectorates and revenue commissionerates will be covered in the second phase. Municipal commissionerates will follow soon after. The app and portal enable people to lodge grievances, track their progress, make suggestions on the working of the government, and also comment on drafts of proposed laws and policies.
What's not: No time limit is set for complaints to be resolved. At present the app works only on Android. The government plans to extend it to iOS, Windows and Blackberry OS in a few months.
Officials say they are working towards increasing the ambit of services covered soon.
RTI online in Maharashtra
Website: http://rtionline.maharashtra.gov.in
Use: Allows you to file Right to Information requests online. To do so, log on to the website and click on 'submit request'. Then, read the guidelines given and click on 'understand guidelines'. Fill the online RTI form. The site allows you to pay fees either through direct transfer, debit or credit card. An application number is provided, using which you can track your application and its status. The site has basic FAQs. It also provides a phone number and email id for complaints and grievances.
What's hot: The site, adapted from the central government's version of the online RTI filing facility, provides services in both English and Marathi. Both initial RTI applications and first appeals can be submitted. The online facility covers all the departments in Mantralaya. Field departments like collector offices, municipal corporations among others will be covered in a few months.
What's not: During our tests, we found that instant sms and email alerts were a problem. Moreover, it's unclear how applicants whose application has been rejected are to get back their money. The website does not allow you to switch to online filing of first appeal if you have filed an initial application in the traditional (physical copy) way. One-click payment of online fees has not yet been introduced. As of now there is no provision of registration for regular RTI users.
Electron- Indian Postal Order
Website: https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/eIPO/Loginpage.aspx
Use: Electronic versions of Indian Postal Orders (E-IPOs, used for Right to Information Applications) can be purchased on this website. It allows you to buy E-IPOs from various public authorities. These include central ministries, departments and union territories. E-IPOs can be purchased for Rs 10. Payment can be made through debit and credit cards. Once purchased, the E-IPO should be sent along with the scanned and signed copy of the application to the e-mail id of the public information officer. An applicant can even take a printout and give the same to the concerned public authority.
What's hot: People can purchase E-IPOs from the convenience of their armchairs. The service, introduced in 2013, covers around 2,946 public authorities.
What's not: The E-IPO is used to pay for RTI applications. But the website doesn't let you pay the fees for information received under RTI. For that, you have to go through the usual means of cash transaction or others listed under the RTI Act.
Pass Service for Mantralaya
Website: https://visitorpass.maharashtra.gov.in/
Use: The site is easy to access and to navigate. To use it, you need to have a mobile number along with a photo-identity card. Register on the website, and it sends you a one-time password. Once that is entered on the website, it sends detailed information with the pass number and token number. This, along with a photo identity card, is required for access into the Mantralaya premises. A printout of the pass needs to be collected from one of the two counters at Mantralaya.
What's hot: In principle, the service should reduce the line and paper work for people looking to get into Mantralaya. It looks to save time too. Applications for entry passes can made up to a week in advance.
What's not: In reality, the service is an unmitigated failure. Except for the diary entry that a visitor has to make when not opting for the web-based pass, everything else remains the same. The paper pass is printed at a counter after showing the message. How is that a reduction of paperwork? You still have to queue up at the counters to collect your paper pass. Officials say they might improve upon the service along the lines of online railway ticketing. There, you can simply show the sms you received, along with a photo-identity card to get in. Officials say they might do the same with the Mantralaya online pass system.
Apply for driving licenses
Website: www.mahatranscom.in
Use: Citizens have to log on to the 'online citizen services' using either Internet Explorer or Firefox. They can then apply for learner's and permanent driving licences.
What's hot: It is a simple, user-friendly form using which license applicants can get appointments for driving tests. The service has, by eliminating the unscrupulous touts who had a stranglehold on license applications, reduced the expenses, official and unofficial, borne by license applicants. The website also does away with regular trips to the RTO seeking details of the documents required, forms and appointments.
What's not: The website is incompatible with a few browsers. To make matters worse, the website does not include a list of compatible browsers. The RTO department should make sure the website works with all major browsers, including Google Chrome.
Find bus routes with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking's Route Network Application
Website: www.bestundertaking.com
Use: The service requires no download; it can be accessed through a mobile or desktop website, thus making it compatible with all operating systems. The service is an add-on started in 2014. Other services already available include bill payment, application for new power connections, new smart card registration, smart card renewal, smart card status, bus tracking, checking of bus route, electricity use calculator, etc.
What's hot: The service offers a quick look at bus numbers, bus timetables, and excursion routes. For someone not well-versed with the city's geography, it also provides source and destination points. A unique feature is that separate tabs for hospitals and airports are provided. These help a passenger to quickly choose a bus route to the hospital or airport.
What's not: The BEST's online service has many private competitors, for instance, the app called m-Indicator. But the BEST service has one distinguishing feature- it lets you easily choose routes to major hospitals and the airport.
Services by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)
Website: www.mmrda.maharashtra.gov.in
Use: The tab 'citizen services' is well-populated. The services available comprise suggestion and complaint management, town and country planning, and lands' cell. You can book the exhibition ground at the Bandra Kurla Complex online. If you're a developer, you can move an application to get construction permission from the town and country planning division.
What's hot: The website allows you to track complaints as well as suggestions. So is the case with booking of grounds and construction activities.
What's not: MMRDA has not yet provided a dedicated website for the Mumbai Monorail, using which people can access the monorail timetable and recharge their smart cards.
Book MSRTC bus tickets online
Website: https://public.msrtcors.com & www.msrtc.gov.in
Use: Like any other e-ticketing facility, the website offers simple steps to zero down on the bus route one wants to travel on. The website offers the option to print out the ticket or sends you an SMS, which works as a valid ticket.
What's hot: The option of using an SMS as a ticket is both eco-friendly and paperless. The online ticketing facility is efficient and simple. It has somewhat changed the public's opinion about the stodgy-looking MSRTC.
What's not: Lack of publicity translates into limited public awareness about the sms ticket service. Moreover, travellers prefer hard copies of tickets for safety's sake. Why has MSTRC not discouraged the use of paper, at least among the more tech-savvy of its passengers?
Register leave and license agreements online
Website: http://igrmaharashtra.gov.in/
Use: At present, this service offered by the department of Registrations and Stamps can be accessed at 80 Maharashtra e-Sewa centres. Soon, the department is planning to allow private professionals like cyber cafes to be empanelled. These centres, which need to have biometric devices and necessary software and hardware, will do the data entry, take printouts of draft documents, make necessary corrections, make e-payment of stamp duty and registration charges, take photographs and thumb impressions of the parties, submit documents for e-registration, and provide printouts of receipts and registered documents. They will get service charges in return.
What's hot: The Aadhaar-based facility saves you the trouble of going to the department's office. It also curbs the proliferation of touts and agents. The department has also enabled registration of first sale of flats at selected sites in Pune and Mumbai and plans to extend it to more developers.
What's not: There are no immediate plans to extend the e-registration facility to sale and purchase transactions. The number of these centres is less, and hence the initiative must be ramped up. The state government is planning to give a push to the system by making it possible for people to file these documents in outlets like cyber cafes.
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