In order to provide various citizen-centric services to the masses, the Punjab government has signed master service agreements with three private partners — All-India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology, Basix India and Vakrangee Softwares Limited and consortium partner M/s Callance Software Pvt Ltd. The three players would manage 2,112 common service centres across the state.
These Common Service Centres (CSCs) would be set up in villages in an equitable geographical spread with active participation from local rural youths for empowering the citizen through information dissemination and market linkages. The CSC scheme is being rolled-out on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model as part of National e-Governance Plan.
CSCs are envisaged as the delivery points for integrated delivery of a wide range of public services which include not only government services but also private and social sector services to rural citizens of the state. The scheme is being rolled out under the PPP model, whereby the government services such as Caste, Income and other certificates issuance, copies of land records and payment of utilities bills such as electricity and telephone will be made available through these rural kiosks. It is hoped the CSC scheme will bring additional employment opportunities for the entrepreneurial local youth. These CSCs are aimed at ensuring access to such services even for the under-privileged. The CSCs, which are rural internet kiosks, will be set up by the selected private partners through local entrepreneurs who will assist all citizens to take advantage of the new services at a fixed cost. In keeping with the objective of the government to make public services available to the citizen closer to his home, each CS C will cover at least six census villages. The government will soon enable services which include land records, road transport, utility billing, passport, excise and taxation, education, agriculture, pensions, panchayat, police, UID, NREGA, and NRHM.
