“Directions from Chief Secretary Attal Duloo to speed up inspections of Common Service Centres (CSCs) show Government’s concerns for the functioning of online public services in Jammu & Kashmir.”
Common Service Centres (CSCs) have become strongest sources of digital access for the rural populations in Jammu & Kashmir and their working as such is being overlooked from the office of the Chief Secretary for the purposes of increasing the accessibility of rural populations to online services. The reach of rural population to online services through CSCs is part of the Prime Minister’s “Digital India” initiative. The motive of establishing these centers and review their working in Jammu & Kashmir also like other parts of the country is to take e-governance facilities at the doorsteps of people in remote rural areas. Directions from Chief Secretary Attal Duloo to speed up inspections of Common Service Centres (CSCs) show Government’s concerns for the functioning of online public services in Jammu & Kashmir. The complaints that were received by the Government led to the intervention of the Chief Secretary and a subsequent direction about the regular inspections to Deputy Commissioners Of all the 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir. The directions of Chief Secretary Attal Dulloo are in no way surprising for the people in either Kashmir Valley or Jammu division as Commissioner Secretary Information Technology (IT) Department Prerna Puri had already acted on the public complaints by directing regular surprise inspections of Common Services Centres (CSCs) in Pulwama district of Kashmir Valley and Rajouri district of Jammu province under the supervision of Additional Secretary IT Department Aijaz Kaisar. Interestingly inspection teams have recommended cancellation of licenses of 7 CSCs (3 in Jammu division and 4 CSCs in Kashmir division for overcharging the people approaching them for online services.
“The complaints of overcharging could be reduced intensely through regular inspections under the close supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioners designated as nodal officers for CSCs in the all the 20 districts across Jammu & Kashmir. As the Common Service Centres (CSC) offering employment opportunities and delivering digital services are transforming lives of people even in remote rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir, the regular inspections at the CSCs and the directions to Deputy Commissioners to provide spaces for new touch points would expand the reach of rural population to digital services across Jammu.”
Notably the CSCs are allowed to charge Rs. 50 per service for government to citizen service and Rs. 75 for government to business services. The working of the CSCs was reviewed last year also. Notably the Government while acting on complaints of overcharging last year also cancelled 664 CSC licenses including 624 in the financial year 2023-24 and 40 in this current financial year 2024-25. The complaints of overcharging could be reduced intensely through regular inspections under the close supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioners designated as nodal officers for CSCs in the all the 20 districts across Jammu & Kashmir. As the Common Service Centres (CSC) offering employment opportunities and delivering digital services are transforming lives of people even in remote rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir, the regular inspections at the CSCs and the directions to Deputy Commissioners to provide spaces for new touch points would expand the reach of rural population to digital services across Jammu.
