Digitisation of services at DC Office: Reality or elephant’s tusk

Guwahati:  Although the state government has been trying to highlight that the implementation of public services and most of the necessary  records are on the digital platform replacing the age old paper based system, the reality is actually far from what is being advertised. On one hand, the work done is now way slower than how it used to happen in the past, and secondly instead of the digital system replacing the paper based physical system of documentation, it is now digital plus physical document.  And since these problems are faced in the heart of the state, that is the Kamrup Metropolitan District Commissioner’s office, one can safely assume that they will be equally bad in the rest of the state, if not worse.

Elaborating on the first loophole of the so called digitally available services, at a time when almost all average income households have an atleast 2 MbPS internet connection for home based use,  the DC office in Guwahati will give you the vibes of an ancient dial-up connection wherein disconnections were normal and people had to reconnect. Anyone who is visiting the office for something as simple as a marriage registration can end up waiting for anything from 1 hour to 6 hours. And it is not uncommon for people to be turned back, only to be forced to come back on the next working day, jeopardising all possible plans and schedules. But one should remember that the dates for such services are being allocated only after taking a prior appointment with the department concerned. So why does one have to wait for so long even after having a prior appointment? Link failure is the answer.

Secondly, a digitised system would ideally mean that all documents are presented in a digital format either as a digital document or image or through a secure system like Digilocker, which is accepted by all government department and agencies, but not in case of the Kamrup Metro DC office. For applying, one must carry a photocopy of all the essential documents. They are then cross checked with the original document and only then one can proceed further. At the end of the process, one must also submit the verified photocopy of the documents along with the printed application form. 

Any one with the basic intelligence can easily call the fakeness in these advertising and publicity regarding the digitization of the services and raise questions on the quality of services provided. And if this was not enough, one can easily add on the massive traffic congestions triggered by the lack of ample parking at the key office and the lack of adequate and free drinking water facility in the office.

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