Now, IT bug bites BBMP

Palike to put in place mechanism to track movement of files online

Payment of property tax for 2008-09 and 2009-10 has already gone online while Geographic Information System (GIS) to map the properties in the City is also in place. Now, the Palike is trying to ensure a better internal co-ordinated system adopting new IT mechanism.
Perhaps, the most commonly levied charges against the BBMP is the slow movement of important files. In its bid to ensure that ‘responsibility’ is shared among the officials, the BBMP will be introducing an IT mechanism to keep track of the file movements online. However, this is meant for internal vigilance alone and not for the general public.

The movement of files from department to department and table to table will be recorded online. People are slowly getting accustomed to the mechanism put in place at the Palike head office, said a BBMP official.
It is learnt that the BBMP has implemented the IT infrastructure in all the 30 departments of the head office and is further trying to ensure that all zonal offices are also online.

The IT features will also measure the movement of files in each department on comparative basis across all the Palike functions. According to reports, the government officials lose as much as 50 per cent of their work hours on a particular case in identifying where the file is and identifying its number. The software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and used by the BBMP is similar to what has been implemented in the Karnataka Government Secretariat.

Cases online

The Palike, henceforth, will get details of all the cases levied against the BBMP online, in order to provide an ‘effective warning’ on the seriousness of the legal charges levied against it. “Legal cases of serious nature are generally embarrassing for the Palike. This portal will ensure that the cases are monitored and looked into by the higher officials to watch over who is handling the cases and the progress on them,” said another Palike official.

This apart, the BBMP will have the financial records streamlined for the ‘satisfaction’ of the auditors. The BBMP audits since 1965 will now be kept in a digitised format.