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Journalism of Courage
As an e-Governance Initiative,the Department of Social Welfare today launched the e-deliverance of Social Welfare Schemes on pilot basis in District Ganderbal.The project was launched by District Development Commissioner Ganderbal Showkat Ahmed Mir and Director Social Welfare Kashmir Bashir Ahmed Bhat in Wussan Kangan and Beehama,Ganderbal respectively in presence of K.Selva Kumar Sr.scientist CDAC and Qazi Irfan,District Social Welfare Officer Ganderbal. The project is jointly funded by Department of Information Technology,Government of India and is part of National e-governance Plan(NeGP). Presently it will cover Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)being implemented by Social Welfare Department .The software for the project has been developed by Bangalore Based Organization,Centre for development of Advanced Computing.(CDAC)
As the Motto of NeGP Public Service closer home suggests,the project aims at mitigating the difficulties faced by the citizens in travelling large distances to apply for different services,by making the services available at the nearest common service centre (Khidmat Centre)that the state has opened in the rural areas across the state (24 in Ganderbal). The applicant doesnt need to visit any office for the submission of his application form now. Citizens desiring to avail benefit under the two schemes need to approach the nearest Khidmat Centre and submit their application online through the Khidmat centre operator. The e-Receipt generated after the submission will be handed over to the applicant who can track the progress of the case from any Khidmat centre,without having to travel to the Tehsil headquarters,thus saving him the unnecessary hardships both in terms of money and time. Besides,it will also bring in further transparency in the Department as the status of the application can be monitored at various levels and there is no scope for any insertion or modification in the process.
Pertinently during the last financial year,4872 old age persons were provided pension under IGNOAPS amounting 2.05 Crores. Similarly 4272 widows,6922 old aged persons and 6920 Disabled persons were provided monthly pension amounting to Rs. 4.70 Crores. Further 3896 and 328 students were provided scholarships with financial implication of 57.14 lacs under pre Matric and post Matric minority scholarships.
On this occasion,Director Social Welfare Kashmir expressed hope that the system will prove a success in the district and will be replicated in other Districts after evaluating its performance in the pilot District. He further emphasized that a comprehensive awareness programme should be launched District Ganderbal to make people aware about the functioning and merits of the system.
