To ensure efficient, honest, accountable and citizen-centric governance to the people of the state, Punjab Government has taken slew of ground-breaking initiatives to make the government services more accessible for every citizen and transform Punjab into a truly digitally empowered society.

Highlighting the details about the initiatives launched by the state government, Punjab Governance Reforms and Public Grievances Minister Aman Arora said that Punjab has recently launched a pioneering project that has enabled Sarpanchs, Nambardars and Municipal Councillors (MCs) to verify applications online for various certificates–Residence certificate, Caste (SC, BC/OBC) certificate, Income certificate, EWS certificate, Old Age Pension and Dogra certificate.

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Punjab takes the lead by launching this innovative initiative aims to save citizens from the hassle of making multiple visits to obtain signatures from Sarpanchs, Nambardars and MCs. These local representatives will receive information via WhatsApp and can provide their recommendation through WhatsApp.

The Governance Reforms Department has also onboarded all the Patwaris to verify documents online, and as of now, over 9.20 lakh applications have been processed online by the Patwaris in the last seven months across the state, he added.

Allowing people to access services from the comfort of their homes, Aman Arora said that Punjab Government launched “Bhagwant Mann Sarkar- Tuhade Dwar” scheme to provide 43 citizen-centric services to the people at their doorstep. Citizens can book an appointment by just calling the helpline number 1076 to avail these 43 services, he said while adding that citizens can conveniently schedule Doorstep Service Delivery appointments at their preferred time.

Seva Sahayaks are adhered to the scheduled appointments, visiting citizens’ locations to facilitate service applications through tablets and collect necessary documents (if required). Certificates are being sent directly to their phones via SMS or WhatsApp. Over 1,11,915 appointments have been served.

The Governance Reforms Minister further said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann also launched the “AAP Di Sarkar, AAP De Dwar” scheme on February 6, 2024, wherein camps are being organised across the state. As many as 11,090 camps have been organised so far, wherein, as many as 50,046 grievances were resolved on the spot in these camps. The primary purpose of the scheme is to facilitate people by providing services and resolution of grievances on the spot at the camps.

He further informed that the services pendency touched 0.3 per cent in month of this December, which is the lowest ever recorded pendency. Regular monitoring of pendency of Citizen Services is being ensured to accomplish the goal of zero pendency of citizen services.

Now, the people of Punjab do not need to visit any office or Sewa Kendra for collection of hard copies of certificates as Punjab Government has started delivery of digitally signed and QR coded certificates to citizens via SMS and email. These certificates are verifiable online and all the offices will accept the certificate. As on date, over 55,83,656 lakh documents have been delivered digitally.