Latest news with #SewaKendras
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Employees of 41 sewa kendras go on strike over unpaid dues
Ludhiana: Residents across Ludhiana faced inconvenience on Friday as employees of 41 Sewa Kendras went on strike over delayed salaries and unexplained deductions. The protest, which lasted from 9am to 3pm, disrupted services at key centres, including the mini secretariat, where hundreds of applications are processed daily. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The employees, hired on contract by a private company, alleged that their June salaries were paid only on July 29, and even then, Rs 2,800 to Rs 3,200 had been deducted without explanation. Gurpreet Singh, president of the Sewa Kendra Union, Ludhiana, said that the strike was a result of repeated delays and lack of transparency. Each day, the Mini Secretariat Sewa Kendra handles 400 to 500 applications, while other centres process 100 to 150 applications. With counters unmanned during the protest, thousands of applications were left pending. By evening, the protest was called off after the company assured employees that salaries would be paid by August 10, and the deducted amounts would be reimbursed. Employees resumed work following the assurance. Meanwhile, residents visiting the centres were left frustrated. Mandeep Singh from Haibowal, who came to apply for a bank-related document, said his time and travel expenses were wasted. Atma Singh, who needed to renew his driving licence, also returned disappointed. Another applicant, who took leave from work to correct Aadhaar details, said that his leave was wasted as the centre was non-functional. Employees expressed concern that the pressure would continue even after the strike, as the civic body pushes to meet property tax targets and other deadlines. MSID:: 123046557 413 |
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Punjab launches ‘easy property registration' system: How it targets ‘dens' of corruption
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal Monday launched an 'easy registration' system to facilitate hassle-free and transparent property registration. 'This is a revolutionary step as people will not have to run from office to office, won't have to deal with agents or middlemen as everything from start to finish will be available on phone and will be fast, clear and transparent,' Mann said. After launching it, both the leaders said citizens can now register at any sub-registrar office in the district, not just where the property is located. Mann said accountability of the officers has been fixed and a proper mechanism of checks and balances has been introduced. This will prevent corruption and if someone causes an unfair delay in property registration, strict action will be taken, Mann said. The network of corruption in the 'tehsils' was deep-rooted and complex but this action is a step forward towards eliminating it, he added. What is this easy registration system and how will it work? Easy Registration The new system is aimed at making registration simple, fast, transparent and fair using digital tools to reduce delays and check corruption in Sub Registrar offices and harassment of people. Earlier, citizens were forced to register deeds only at the SRO in-charge of the location of the property. Now, they will be able to get it registered in any SRO of the district. They had to hire the deed writers to write the sale deed, pay through the bank and go through the process of manual checks. Now, the property owners can directly draft their deed online or by paying affordable fees (Rs 500) through Sewa Kendras opened at all SROs or doorstep delivery of services by calling 1076. And, the complete online document submission and assessment on whether the registration could be done will be completed within 48 hours. Keeping check on Tehsildars/Sub Registrars The Sub Registrar offices in Punjab are often dubbed as dens of corruption with 'a cut' on registration of property being a well known fact. Those, who refuse to pay this cut, often face objections by the Tehisldars and the process is delayed. With the new system in place now, the Tehsildars would not be able to make any frivolous objections on registration. The objections will have to be raised online and only once within 48 hour long online window. The objection would automatically be intimated to District Collectors (DCs) through the app, who can check if they are genuine. The Real-time WhatsApp updates to citizens would be sent at every stage of the process. How will it check corruption? If a property owner is asked for bribe, he would be able to report it directly on WhatsApp itself and the DC will ensure that the deed gets registered smoothly. The property owners will be sent the details of amount of collector's duty and other fee on the WhatsApp. If the property owner would feel that he was being asked for a bribe, he could report directly on the WhatsApp. The message thus sent would reflect directly on DCs' software. The department of revenue has run a trial of the entire system in the past one month when the system was being developed. Payment The system would save the residents of separate bank visits for payments. Earlier, they had to get stamp papers from Sewa Kendras, and repeatedly visit the banks for paying collector's duty and other formalities. All these visits could now be a thing of the past. Now, single, consolidated online payment gateway is being offered covering all fees, removing the need for bank trips. Citizens are now notified via WhatsApp when documents are ready and make only one visit for signing and document collection. Scope to be extended The system will be available in all districts of Punjab in a month and half. The department of revenue and rehabilitation is working on extending it to all districts. The Revenue Department is working to similarly reform all other citizen services so that they can be made available conveniently to the citizens either through Sewa Kendras or by calling 1076 or directly through Whatsapp. The larger vision is to eliminate the need to visit government offices and offer seamless, corruption-free experience to citizens for any service.
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Nailed corrupt officers to stop public harassment: Punjab CM Mann
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday inaugurated projects worth Rs 13 crore in Ludhiana, ahead of Ludhiana West bye-election, even as the schedule for the election is yet to be announced. Mann said that by nailing corrupt officers the state government has stopped the undue harassment and inconvenience caused to the general public. Mann, while taking a dig at revenue department officials who used to harass the common man on pretext of mass leaves or strikes, said that the state government has not bowed before these corrupt officers, who are facing police action for their misdeeds. He said that the AAP government has zero tolerance against corruption but ironically by going on mass leave these officers are seeking license for corruption. Mann said that this 'blackmailing was not tolerated and severe action has been taken against these corrupt and haughty officers.' Mann said that these officers harass the common man on a daily basis but this is no longer tolerated and the government is taking strict action against them. He said that the trial of online registration of the land deeds is going on in the state and it will soon be implemented in Punjab. He said that it will set a new benchmark in delivery of public services to the people as people will have to apply at Sewa Kendras and will get the registries at their home. Mann said that this will revolutionize the work of land registration by introducing a first of its kind mechanism. Meanwhile, heavy traffic jams were witnessed across the city on Wednesday for several hours and commuters were a harried lot as several roads were closed by due to CM's visit. In a major relief to commuters, Mann dedicated a High-Level Bridge (72.40m) over Budha Nallah near Chand Cinema, constructed for Rs 8.16 crore. He also inaugurated an ultra modern playground at Salem Tabri locality with a total covered area of 5187.50 square feet. The playground has been equipped with state of the art Sports infrastructure and with facilities of camera recording and flood lights. The ground has been constructed at a cost of Rs 26 lakh. He also inaugurated the newly constructed auditorium at Dr Ambedkar Bhawan cum training and research center near Jalandhar byepass chowk, constructed at a cost of Rs 4.30 crore. The auditorium has been equipped with hi-end facilities like sliding chairs, ACs, Sound system and sound proofing, motorized curtains, projector, screens, false ceiling and others. Announcing to make Buddha Nullah pollution free, Mann said that the state government has already set the wheels in motion. Quoting verse 'Pawan Guru, Paani Pitaah, Mata Dharat Mahat' from Gurbani, he said that the great Gurus have equated air (pawan) with teacher, water (paani) with father and land (dharat) with mother. He said that the state government is following the footsteps of great Sikh Gurus to reduce pollution and make the state clean, green and pollution free. Mann announced the establishment of eight UPSC coaching centres in Punjab with one of them to be opened in Ludhiana. He said that each centre will be equipped with a library, hostel and other essential facilities to provide quality training for competitive examinations.
Hindustan Times
26-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Punjab to have unified portal for all services
The Punjab government has decided to establish a project management unit (PMU) to provide all services related to various government departments through a unified online portal, said good governance and information technology minister Aman Arora. Chairing the 21st meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG) of Punjab State e-Governance Society (PSeGS) here, on Friday, Arora said that the main objective of the PMU was to bring all the offline services onto a unified online portal, enabling citizens to apply anytime, from anywhere. 'The portal will also empower applicants to track the status of their applications, besides facilitating monitoring of service pendency at the head-office level to ensure greater accountability and timely resolution,' he said. The minister said the PMU would help in integration of departmental services with the Punjab e-Sewa portal. He said that a total of 846 services were notified under the Punjab transparency and accountability in public service delivery Act and out of these, only 436 services were provided through 541 Sewa Kendras. To provide all services through single point of contact or doorstep delivery, the remaining notified services would be integrated to ensure online accessibility, he added. The BoG also decided to conduct a comprehensive performance and impact audit of all Sewa Kendras operating across Punjab.
