MCD goes online to make life easier for Delhites

E-governance is the latest fad, with most of the IT budgets now being e-governance oriented. The national capital city of Delhi has a feather in its cap--www.mcdonline.gov.in. This feather is aimed at bridging the gap between the municipal authority of National Capital Region (NCR) and the estimated population of 13.78 million citizens in the capital city. This online tool can do a lot to the citizens, right from registering a newborn baby to the demise of a person. In case you need to talk to the Municipal Commissioner, one can do so in a jiffy--log on to the website and mail him a complaint or suggestion.

Right now, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) faces the task of providing civic amenities in an expanding metropolis where due to migration from neighboring states, population is growing at a tremendous rate. The population of the city that stood at 93 lakh in 1991 grew to 1.37 crore in 2001.

"We strive hard to come up to expectations of citizens. However, it has been experienced that while much of good work is taken for granted, irritants persist. At times, citizens are not aware of the activities of the Civic Body's performance. This website should be able to give a comprehensive insight to the MCD's proceedings and functions," said Rakesh Mehta, Commissioner,
MCD.

This new online avatar for MCD carries a comprehensive information base for the users. Right from information about the MCD and its regulation to the application for various processes, such as taxation, factory license, etc. It also carries a comprehensive FAQ section for various MCD procedures such as birth registration, death registration, health trade licensing, booking of parks, factory licensing and trade licensing.

If you want to get in touch with the municipal official of the zone you are living in, this website has a directory of all the MCD officials along with the zone area number and area name. To decentralize administration and settle day-to-day complaints of citizens nearer their homes, the entire MCD area has been divided into 12 zones. Complaints relating to instantiation, removal of dead animals, repairing of potholes, dangerous buildings, felling of trees on roads, stagnation of water, unauthorized constructions etc can be lodged there for redressal. Besides this, this website also has a Hindi version that has all the information in Hindi to help those who are not too well versed in English.

MCD came into existence on the April 7, 1958 under the Act of Parliament. It is amongst the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to more than 10 million people. It is next only to Tokyo in terms of area. Within its jurisdiction are some of the most densely populated areas in the world. It has also the unique distinction of providing civic services to rural and urban villages, resettlement colonies, regularized unauthorized colonies, JJ squatter settlements, slum basties, private katras etc.

This is one more endeavor by the Delhi government after launching various websites to make the citizen interaction with the government easy and fast.

Shweta Khanna