The Fact Check: the Delhi Doorstep Scheme

Is it first of this kind ?

The Delhi Doorstep Delivery (DSD)scheme is first of this kind where government representative reaches at the doors of citizens to process and deliver 100 public services. Manipur has claimed they are the first. However the Manipur government on 8th sep 2018 launched a Citizen Facilitation Centre (CFC) for specified categories and announced   'GO TO VILLAGE' scheme on 1st May 2018. 60 villages and 60 constituencies have selected. However, it's implementation was still vague. Kerala has a model called 'Akshaya' launched in 2002. Those are again CFCs at every panchayat and towns. This scheme also required digital skills for citizens to avail at home.

However, many has followed the Delhi's way. Andhra Pradhesh is the typical example. CFCs and Sahayaks at every villages.1 person for 50 people. It is yet to roll out fully. Karnataka has recently started the doorstep scheme in a very extensive way and launched the first phase. They have doorstep scheme and CFCs also. The Govt. of Odisha and Rajasthan as well also planning to implement the scheme and undertook the preliminary study with the Delhi Govt to check the feasibility. 

2. How does the Common Service Center (CSC) initiative of Central govt ? Is it a same model of Delhi's doorstep?

CSCs are the much glorified scheme of central govt in par with doorstep.Sources revealed that there are about 2.6 lakh VLE’s (Village Level Entrepreneurs), which deliver 3,462 services across the country . The total transactions for this year are about 1,975 lakh. This includes services that are both ‘government to citizen’ such as Aadhar, PAN card registration, motor vehicle license and so on, and ‘business to government’ such as train ticket booking, music downloads and so on. Some of these are also ‘information services’, such as checking one's bank balance or information on eligibility of schemes and so on. 

However, this cannot compare with DSD as no government representative is visiting homes of citizens and help them in processing. 

CSCs are also criticized for

• Exorbitant charges to citizens by the VLEs

• VLE are not financially sustainable 

• Multiple visits required 

• No proper SLA Management 

• Inordinate delay in System updates and management 

• No professional expertise 

• Absence of citizens charter 

• Inefficient citizens support mechanism 

• Issues on accessibility and time consuming 

• Lack of digital know-how (citizens points)

The issue of online services is that majority of the ordinary citizens are not equipped to go online and understand procedures. In a way, many are landed at intermediaries or touts.They charge huge amounts as processing fee. When Delhi Govt charges Rs.50 as processing fee under DSD, agents are charging thousand for income certificate and more than 4000 for marriage certificate. Hence the economic  impact of the DSD scheme is worth noticed in comparing to the CSCs of  central govt. 

3. Do MCDs of Delhi also initiated the doorstep scheme ? How the Doorstep delivery scheme stands out in comparison with the MCD public service delivery plans ?

MCDs are often blamed for corruption and mal-governance. People find huge difficulty in getting services. Though BJP opposed DSD Scheme, the SDMC has been saying that we will deliver services at your doorstep for more than a year, but couldn't materialise it. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on  last month opened the online licensing module developed for household industrial units employing up to 9 workers and having 11 KW meters. would no longer have to go to the MCD office for submitting licence applications. This is an approval of DSD scheme by the BJP led MCDs.Study shows that around 30 per cent residents of the city have to pay bribes to get their work done in municipal corporations," (Pandey) Union minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel earlier sparked a controversy by calling Delhi’s municipal corporations corrupt (" Aap mujhse kahoge MCD kaisi hai. Mein kahoonga chor hai. Mujhe koi inkar nahi hai.)

Earlier in Delhi citizens had to visit an avg. 4 times to office for getting a service. It amounts to job loss and travel cost. Also, more than 50 % were relayed on touts and agents. Now they can get services at the doorstep. The scheme estimated saving of one million man hours in an year. It also axed touts and prevented corruption  in large. 

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the scheme was the first of its kind initiative in the world letting citizens avail 100 government services at their doorstep. The scheme was launched in September last year with 40 services and 30 facilities were added in August this year. “Now citizens don’t need to stand in long queues in government offices. They can also avoid multiple visits to government offices, taking leave from office and seeking touts’ help to get public services,” he added.    

Under the scheme, citizens can call on the number — 1076 — to avail government services. After the call, a person will visit the citizen and collect documents required for the service and process the request. Citizens can book an appointment online through www.edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in or www.delhi.gov.in or by visiting any RTO or SDM office.

 “Now, there are three ways to get things done at the government offices in Delhi. First by visiting the government offices, where the success rate is 57% and 43% of applications get rejected. Secondly, by applying online, in which 45% of applications get cleared while 55% get rejected. The third is doorstep delivery, where the success rate is 91%, whereas only 9% of applications get rejected. This is due to mobile Sahayaks’s intervention to ensure that all documents are complete and attached in the right order along with the applications,” he added.    

The scheme was launched with 40 services on September 10, 2018, and 30 more services were added in August 2019. A total of 16,31,772 calls were received and of this, many were enquires. The call centre received 2,89,762 service requests and 2,64,927 applications were disposed of till December 2019. The current disposal rate is about 95% and the remaining 5% under process, said the government.    “The top services under this scheme is issuance of caste [OBC] certificate [21%], issuance of caste [SC] certificate [19%], issuance of income certificate [17%], learners license [8%], issuance of domicile certificate [5%], registration of marriage [2.5%], issuance of delayed birth order [1.8%],” an official statement said.