The UT Administration on Thursday introduced 16 new citizen services through the Sampark centres in the city, besides the existing 11 services being delivered through these centres. Advisor to the Administrator K K Sharma launched the initiative at the eSampark centre in Sector 21 on Thursday and said that the Administration is committed to ensuring efficiency and transparency in public service delivery. All 16 services are time bound and the applicants would be kept informed about the status of their applications through SMSs, according to officials. The initiative covers services of the SDM office, DC office, the election department and the Municipal Corporation. Residents can now also apply for passports through the e-Sampark centres. Anil Prashar, a senior official in the Department of Information Technology (IT), said, “The timeline for the delivery of services ranges from instant delivery to 52 working days. For services requiring exchange of documents within Chandigarh, the timeline is less but for some services which require the Administration to seek documents from other states, the timeline is more. The facilitation charges for the services range from zero to Rs 200.” Another official added that at railway tickets through IRCTC can now be booked at the Sector 21 Sampark centre, along with the Sector 7 centre. Sharma, speaking on the occasion, said that the initiative is a major step in making government services easily accessible to the residents. “We will continue to strive towards making Chandigarh a citizen friendly city,” he said. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shayin, who was also present at the launch, said, “Services can now be availed even during non-office hours and on Saturdays without the need for visiting a government office. We have worked hard on reducing the timelines for prompt citizen service delivery and due training has been imparted to the staff working at these centres.”
