Due to the high running cost and low footfall of Sewa Kendras, a key initiative of the then Akali-BJP government that provided 153 citizen-centric services to the people, the Punjab state government has now decided to rationalize these centres.

Facts :

• The Government of Punjab through Punjab State e-Governance Society (PSeGS) has established 2142 Sewa Kendras in urban and rural areas of the State to provide various government services to the citizens in a convenient/hassle free manner and in close proximity to homes of the citizens. The Govt. has now taken a decision to rationalize the operations of Sewa Kendras.
• These Sewa Kendras were established in the state to deliver G2C services only. However, due to low footfall and transactions, the Government has decided to retain 512 Sewa Kendras after rationlizing the number of Sewa Kendras which means that only 512 Sewa Kendras would be used for delivery of G2C, B2C services.Operations in rest 1630 Sewa Kendras would be stopped.
• PSeGS plans to offer the premises of these 1630 SEWA Kendras across the state to open their branches or extension counters. The organizations can utilize the infrastrucrue of SEWA Kendras to deliver their services to the citizens closer to their homes. This will result in saving of enormous amount of time and cost for the citizens as well as these organizations. Providing of citizen services will definitely bring multiple social, economic and development benefits to the citizens.
• To make the Sewa Kendras project financially viable, the cabinet decided on shifting their operations to a new model. A suggestion was made to use the buildings and other infrastructure of the Kendras which are shut down for running Anganwadis and Panchayat Ghars.
• The cabinet decided to serve a 180-day notice, as required, to end the contract with the current service provider of the Sewa Kendras. The contract with the provider, who was charging the government Rs.220 crores annually, was for five years.
• Sewa Kendras were constructed at a cost of Rs 200 crores, with Rs 1400 crores estimated to be spent on their operations in five years. Health Minister Brahm Mahindra described this as a criminal waste of public money and called for an inquiry into the matter.
• Officials in the state Governance Reforms Department said rationalisation of the sewa kendras could be done soon, once the rates at which 153 services are being provided are rationalised too.
• Deliberations are on to determine how many centres are needed. Feedback is also being sought from the districts on how many of these kendras should be run and their public use. The focus was on integration of all services and infrastructure created for all these centres.

Background :

• Government of Punjab has envisioned that Citizens of Punjab should get all government services delivered by any government department in an integrated manner, across the counter under one roof in Urban as well as Rural Areas. To make these services easily accessible in local vicinity of the citizens, Service Delivery Centers namely “Sewa Kendras” for a population of 8000-10000 (tentatively) in rural areas and covering 1.5 to 2 Square Kilometers (tentatively) in Urban areas will be setup.
• These citizen-service centres were initially named suvidha centres. These were run by the Sukhmani Society, headed by the respective Deputy Commissioner.
• In August last year, suvidha centres had made way for the sewa kendras. Between August 2016 and January this year, 2,146 kendras were established at the district and subdivisional levels and one each for a cluster of villages covering a population of up to 10,000.
• These were handed over to an independent service provider; the staff and equipment was provided by the operator. Sewa kendras initially offered 77 services.
• These centres were meant to be largely self-sustaining, with the operator trying to recover the costs by offering the services.
• The viability gap was to be given by the state government. However, till date, the average monthly revenue generated by these centres is Rs 3.82 crore, as against the monthly expenditure of Rs 17-18 crore.
• Though the Congress government has tried to bridge this gap by recently hiking the service charges, it has not made much difference. Thus, it has been decided to rationalise the number of centres and save costs.

Benefits :

The Organizations would gain following beneifts by leasing permises at the SEWA Kendras :

• An alternate Delivery Channel for providing services at an affordable cost,
• Reduces the cost of transaction,
• Improved outreach with less staff,
• Reduce the pressure on the existing main branches/extension counters,
• Facilitates in extending the outreach and provides the ability to offer new products and services,
• Expanding the footprint in all the existing Service area villages,
• Availability of full furnished infrastructure of Government.

About Sewa Kendras :

• A sewa kendra is a local government office in India providing services relating to utility bills and documents such as birth and death certificates, arms licences and tenant verification documents.
• In Punjab(PB) these are defined under the Punjab Right to Services Act, 2011, under the SAD-BJP government. These citizen-service were started in 2005.The cost effectiveness of such offices has been controversial.

About Punjab State e-Governance Society (PSeGS) :

• The PSeGS administers the implementation of e-Governance projects for the overall benefit of the citizens and public by setting up the necessary administrative, financial, legal and technical framework, implementation mechanism and resources in the State of Punjab. It facilitates establishment of service centers through the district level Sukhmani Societies or through other methods as an innovative way of providing facilitation to the public for delivering citizen services.