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With the increasing population, Dehradun Municipal Corporation’s (DMC) challenges of rendering fast and effective services to Doonites have also gone up. DMC Commissioner, Nitin Singh Bhadauria, in conversation with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN), throws light on various IT initiatives undertaken by the Corporation to roll out online services

What kind of IT initiatives have been taken up by DMC for citizen’s convenience?

A Property Tax Management System is currently being implemented within the city limits of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC). A pilot Capacity Building for Urban Development project has been completed and tested for three wards. It is being planned for the entire city of Dehradun and we have also collaborated with IIT Roorkee to do a Geographic Information System survey so that land information of the city can be seen online. Besides, we have also introduced Vehicle Tracking System to prevent fuel pilferage and find driver’s position through Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. For instance, if someone registers a complaint that the garbage from his/her area has not been lifted, then we send the vehicle which is closest to the locality enabling us to save fuel and time.

What are the upcoming IT projects of DMC to make citizen’s life easier?

DMC is planning to launch its first mobile app, through which people can lodge civic complaints, use the Property Tax Management System and apply for birth/death certificates and other key certificates. The app would enable officials to ensure rapid compliance rate and if any complaint remains unattended or unresolved, it would be forwarded to the Municipal Commissioner for his intervention. Additionally, we have also started retrofitting energy-efficient LED street lights to save electricity and slash DMC’s electricity bills. DMC is also contemplating to install at least 100 underground bins to maintain cleanliness which will reduce operational costs and ensure more efficient removal of garbage.

The way we have been implementing various ICT initiatives, Dehradun city would get ample online services, so that Doonites need not visit the civic body office every now and then to lodge complaints or to avail services

How do we see the civic body of Dehradun after three to four years? What kind of ICT advancements would be brought in?

Looking forward, the manner in which we are implementing ICT initiatives, it is pretty sure that Dehradun city would get ample online services so that Doonites need not visit the civic body office every time they want to lodge a grievance or to get any services. In the next three years, projects like Solid Waste Management, LED street lights, GIS survey, and Climate Change Resilience Action programmes would be implemented by using ICT. Technology will be the biggest game changer in ensuring efficient delivery of services, thereby empowering the citizen to get their rights transformed into entitlements, in sync with our vision for Dehradun.

How do you keep the DMC staff updated on the latest ICT tools?

Apart from organising capacity building workshops to impart ICT training, we also impart other trainings to our staff to help them understand latest technology advancements. It is a priority of the DMC to impart training to civic body employees and keep them updated on ICT transformation. More and more ICT services mean requirement of more skilled manpower for which government is making efforts. We are also getting necessary support from the Uttarakhand Government to implement ICT initiatives.

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