IMPACT OF REFORMS IN PUNJAB: Team from Kenya lands

Chandigarh, December 10, 2012: A team from Kenya led by Francis Meja, Registrar of motor vehicles, Kenya alongwith officials from police and revenue department today called on Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The team is in Chandigarh to study e-Governance initiatives undertaken by Transport Department so that it could be replicated in Kenya.

Explaining about the concept of citizen centric reforms, the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that this whole exercise was to eliminate interaction between general public and authorities by making the process total online. He said that computerisation of Transport Department was not only restricted to one or two services but also included registration at dealer’s desk, online payment of fee and taxes, licenses at educational institutes etc. He said that since Kenya and Punjab faced similar types of challenges in the transport sector, it would be apt for Kenya to adopt Punjab model.

In the meeting Secretary Transport Punjab Mandeep Singh welcomed the delegates who are in a two day visit in Punjab in which they would also be visiting various site offices and interact with officials of the Transport department to learn and understand the implementation methodologies utilized by the department. The address was followed by a presentation on various functions of the department and the live demonstration of systems undertaken by the department.

Secretary Transport mentioned that introduction of e-Governance in department has enabled Punjab to become a leading state in the country to simultaneously introduce Smart Card facility for Driving Licenses and certificate Registration of vehicles along with introduction of other citizen convenience services for facilities like, learner licence issuance by college Principals, Web based anywhere/anytime payment of tax and fee for vehicle owners and an Online system for vehicle registration at dealer point. Department introduces paperless office concept in all the field offices by scanning of the all the applicant’s documents pertaining to learner licence, Driving Licence, certificate of registration and permits. These scanned images will be kept for future usage. Help desks are established at each of District Transport office and Regional transport Authority for conveniences and facilitation of citizen.

Mandeep Singh Thanked Harjeet Singh, State Transport Commissioner Punjab, Harmail singh Sra, Additional State Transport Commissioner Punjab and other officers of the department who have worked night and day for making this department as one of the best Transport Departments of India and helping it to reach stellar heights.

Mandeep Singh also thanked   M/s Prince Water House Coopers Pvt. Ltd. consultants for the e-governance and HSRP projects for department of Transport Punjab for the tireless efforts put in by them to enable the success of various initiatives of the department. He made a special mention on the work done M/s Smart Chip Ltd. (BOOT operators for the e-Governance project) for their proficient and proactive approach  for making it successful and helping it to become a state of art project. He also mentioned on the work done by M/s Agros Impex (operator for the HSRP project) to help the department reach such heights.

Mandeep Singh thanked the Kenyan team for choosing the Transport Department Punjab for their benchmarking study and welcomed them once again to the vibrant and prosperous state of Punjab.