JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, chaired a high-level meeting to explore the potential of Community Service Centres (CSCs) in providing seamless Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Government-to-Business (G2B) services across Jammu & Kashmir.
The meeting focused on integrating a wider range of government services with the CSC platform to ensure accessibility for the people, particularly in remote areas.
Those who attended the meeting included the Principal Secretary, APD; Principal Secretary, Finance; Commissioner Secretary, IT; CEO, JaKeGA; MD, JPDCL; Chairman, JKBOCWW; MD, SIDCO/SICOP besides other concerned officers while the Deputy Commissioners participated online.
Observing the extensive scope of online services and their affordability, the Chief Secretary emphasized the need to onboard services from key departments including Revenue, Housing & Urban Development (H&UDD), Agriculture, Rural Development (RDD), Labour & Employment, Power Development (PDD), Jal Shakti, Industries & Commerce, and the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (BOCWWB). This integration, he observed, would not only enhance the service delivery but also boost the earnings of CSC operators.
Dulloo underscored the significance of the ‘Digidost’ feature of CSCs, allowing the citizens to avail government services from their homes at regulated rates. He directed the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to enhance the capacity of CSC operators, ensuring they efficiently serve both the citizens and the businesses. He also instructed the SPV to provide dashboard access to the IT Department for better monitoring of transactions and service delivery.
To further strengthen the role of CSCs, the Chief Secretary urged the banks to explore the feasibility of transforming these centres into Business Correspondents (BCs) or Unbanked Rural Centres (URCs), given their widespread presence and infrastructure in J&K. He also enquired about the establishment of new touchpoints in government offices and the challenges faced in their smooth operations there.
During the meeting, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department (APD), Shailendra Kumar, proposed creation of model CSCs in each block to serve as one-stop centres for multiple services, encouraging replication across the region. He stressed the importance of expanding outreach and integrating CSCs with other government portals to provide seamless and efficient services.
Principal Secretary of Finance, Santosh D. Vaidya, emphasized the need for auditing data privacy measures at CSCs to safeguard the citizens’ credentials. He also called for an assessment of commission structures and documentation of success stories to showcase the CSCs as viable business ventures capable of delivering an extensive range of services.
He said that the CSCs could play a critical role in improving access to digital services and bridging the digital divide across the districts of J&K.
Commissioner Secretary, IT Department, Saurabh Bhagat, highlighted the critical role of CSCs as last-mile access points for e-governance and business services under the Digital India initiative. He reported that out of 18,618 CSCs in J&K, 12,602 are currently active.
The Commissioner Secretary revealed that there are 313 BCs, 20 District ASKs, 90 Block ASKs, 70 UCLs and 733 new touch points established across the Tehsil offices, BDO offices and Degree Colleges across the districts of J&K to bring services close to the doorsteps of the public.
Presenting key statistics, he informed that 3.2 lakh Aadhaar service transactions, 4.1 lakh micro ATM transactions, 13 lakh G2C and B2C service transactions, 11.9 lakh Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) transactions, 32,212 appointments with ‘Digidost’ besides thousands of transactions related to money transfer, tele-law, skilling and banking services have been accomplished by these CSCs.
Additionally, the role of CSCs in implementing various welfare schemes, such as PM Surya Ghar, Vishwakarma Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN and PMFBY, was discussed.
The meeting concluded with a call for strategic interventions to maximize the potential of CSCs and enhance their contribution to governance and service delivery across both the rural and urban areas of the UT.
