When Ramesh Sharma of Daltonganj last travelled to Ranchi the fifth time in the last four months he was wary like before. His coming all the way in the hope of meeting with a Human Resource Department official and going back disappointed was at the back of his mind.
“But this time I was a bit confident because the Department has sent me a SMS, with time and place and the name of the officer concerned for the meeting. I reached on time and am happy that my grievances were heard patiently. Now, I hope that action on my plea would also be initiated,” says Sharma, a retired teacher, who has pension-related issues.
What got changed in betweenIJ The way the Government has been functioning. Sharma this time availed of an information technology-enabled service of the Government for the convenience of the commoners like him. The Information Technology Department has launched a web portal 'jharkhandmulakat.nic.in' for fixing appointments with any of the who's who sitting on top in the Government.
The facility is for those who want to place their concern in front of the authority of his choice physically or willing to meet the Chief Minister, Ministers or Departmental Secretaries to sort that out. "Earlier, they would have to wait endlessly and run from pillar to post to meet any concerned Minister or official. Even in Janta Darbar they may not get an opportunity to meet the authority of their choice. Here anyone can seek appointment online, get confirmation through SMS and meet the person concerned," said Umesh Prasad Shah, Director of IT Department.
The entire process from seeking appointment to meeting has been kept simple and friendly for a common man. One need to just visit the website seating at their comfort, make one-time registration, get a user id and password, make a choice about whom to meet and that's all.
"We have made it convenient for the people. As soon as the server receives any request seeking appointment it sends an SMS alert to the private secretary of the concerned Minister or Secretary. He would promptly apprise his boss who would allot suitable time and the message is conveyed to the applicant with date, time and venue. The confirmation SMS sent can be used as 'gate pass' or he can even download by visiting the website and logging in using his id and password," added the Director.
The Department after running the system on trial basis has now decided to give it a kick through greater publicity and fanfare. A concerned official quipped that from a modest beginning from late last month, around 30-35 applications now have started coming daily for appointments with various Ministers and officials.
"In this way, the Department can also keep an eye on the persons meeting with Ministers and officials, the kind of grievances coming in, purpose of the meeting and frequency. Also, no authority can now ignore any request for meeting as the application is registered in the system and can be supervised easily," said a senior official of the Chief Minister's Office that would keep a tab on the happenings.