GramaOne brings Karnataka govt services under a roof in rural areas

One-stop shop: Similar to Karnataka One and Bangalore One, the GramaOne centres will be a one-stop shop for all citizen services at the village level

Empowering rural areas with easier access to government services, the state government on Thursday launched GramaOne citizen service centres.

Similar to Karnataka One and Bangalore One, the GramaOne centres will be a one-stop shop for all citizen services at the village level. While the government launched these centres on a pilot basis across 100 villages in Davanagere district, it plans to eventually expand them to every village in the state.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who launched the pilot project, said the centres will ensure that citizens don’t have to visit government offices. Nor will they fall prey to middlemen.

According to officials at the Centre for e-Governance, each GramaOne centre will act as a service delivery centre for Seva Sindhu and Sakala services. Citizens will also be able to submit RTI applications at the centres.

An operator at the centre will help people to submit their applications for a stipulated fee. The applications will be submitted online to the department concerned. The applicants will receive a notification on their mobile phone indicating the status. Once it’s processed, they will be able to collect the certificate.

Speaking to DH, Sindhu B Roopesh, Director, Directorate of Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services (EDCS), explained that people had to visit the nearest Hobli centres for government services such as caste certificate. With GramaOne, all the work can be done at the village level itself. Based on the pilot project, the government would take stock of the services that were in demand and also examine the viability before expanding them across the state, the official added.

Apart from regular services of obtaining various identity cards and payment of bills, these centres will also serve as a platform for registration for skill development training for youth. Besides, information pertaining to the price of crops at different APMCs will also be displayed through an LED screen. Wi-Fi and video conferencing too will be provided, apart from availability of a digital library where citizens can access books and newspapers, officials in the e-governance department told DH.