Arvind Kejriwal launched doorstep delivery of public services in Delhi.
Not just pizza, it's the government, home-delivered, Arvind Kejriwal said today as he launched the doorstep delivery of 40 services in Delhi, including marriage certificates, driving licenses and water connection documents. "We always heard of pizza being home-delivered, but now one can dial the government and the government will come home," tweeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's scheme a "revolutionary, historic step".
For a certificate, documents, identity cards or any other service, citizens can dial 1076 to place a request. They will be informed of the documents they need, and can give a time when a "Mobile Sahayak" can come and collect them.
The services will be provided for an extra fee of Rs. 50.
The Delhi Chief Minister also appealed to the media to highlight problems in the implementation of the scheme to enable his government to resolve them in the next 10-15 days.
Passport help, caste certificates, income certificates, driving licence, ration card, domicile and duplicate registration papers - all can be home-delivered from now.
As an example, for a driving licence, a person has to call a designated call centre and give the details. The agency would assign a 'Mobile Sahayak' to visit the person at home and get the required details and documents. The sahayak, for security, will not have the direct number of the applicant, said the Chief Minister.
The applicant has to make just one visit to the Motor Licensing Office (MLO) for a driving test.
The government has enlisted a private company, VFS Global, to facilitate the services.
"We have five mobile sahayaks in each of the 11 districts of Delhi. We plan to have 25,000 such facilitators,"said Debkumar Bandopadhyay of VFS.
In November last year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said Mobile Sahayak would be equipped with biometric devices and a camera.
The opposition Congress accused the AAP government of "rushing into" the scheme ahead of the 2019 national election.
"Of the 40 services, 35 are already online, so why not improve those? Also, does the private company come under the RTI or is it accountable to the people in any way," questioned Puja Bahri, the spokesperson of the Delhi Congress.
AAP's plan, stalled for several month, was back on track after a five-judge Constitution Bench in July ruled that the elected government is the boss in the capital and does not need a sign-off on every decision. The party had accused Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the centre of blocking the plan to stop AAP from getting any credit.
"Doorstep delivery of services. A revolution in governance. A big blow to corruption. Super convenience for people. Happening for the first time anywhere in the world. Starts from 10th Sept (sic)," Mr Kejriwal had tweeted last month.