Karnataka mulling Tatkal system for faster services, says minister

The Karnataka government is planning to introduce a Tatkal-like facility for speedy delivery of citizen services, Sakala Minister B C Nagesh said on Monday.

He was speaking at the launch of a revamped Sakala website on the occasion of the scheme completing 10 years.

Sakala, or the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, promises delivery of services within a stipulated period of time.

“There are now 1,115 services across 99 departments under Sakala. The service delivery timelines vary from one service to another. But, at times, citizens may require services such as documents or certificates in a day or two. So, we’re thinking of introducing Tatkal services. We will discuss this with officials,” Nagesh said.

Last year, the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-II recommended a passport-like Tatkal facility for faster citizen services.

From April 2, 2012, when the Sakala scheme was launched, to February 28, a total of 26.56 crore applications were serviced and 26.41 crore of them have been disposed of. “There’s a provision in the law to penalise officials for delay in service delivery, and this isn’t being done effectively. Officials need to pay attention to this,” he said.

Nagesh narrated an incident where a woman did not get her salary for 11 months in Chikmagalur. “She was given a job on compassionate grounds after her husband died due to Covid,” he said. “I met her when I visited Chikmagalur and found that the file pertaining to her salary was gathering dust in various government offices. I directed officials to take action and the work got done in one day. If only officials did their job properly, the woman would not have had to wait for 11 months,” he said.

According to Nagesh, the government is coming up with Sakala Kiosks on a pilot basis for “faceless and cashless” transactions. The government is also doing a Sakala Citizen Happiness Index to measure the quality of service delivery under the scheme.

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