Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched E-Chhawani portal and mobile app in New Delhi on Tuesday. The portal (https://echhawani.gov.in/) has been created to provide online civic services to over 20 lakh residents of 62 Cantonment Boards across the country. Through the portal, the residents of cantonment areas will be able to avail basic services like renewal of leases, application for birth and death certificates, water and sewerage connections, trade licences, mobile toilet locators and payment of different types of taxes and fees, with just a click of a button.
The portal, jointly developed by eGov Foundation, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) and National Informatics Centre (NIC), provides a platform to the residents to avail these services from the comfort of their home.
Speaking at the launch, the Defence Minister reiterated the government’s commitment of socio-economic development of the country by providing maximum facilities to the people and making the administration efficient and transparent. He said the government is striving to make the system citizen-friendly and provide services that facilitate ‘ease of living’ and ‘ease of doing’ for the people. Initiatives like ‘Minimum Government-Maximum Governance’, Digital India and E-Governance were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote good governance and ease of living for the people, the minister said, adding that the launch of the E-Chhawani portal is a big step in that direction.
Rajnath Singh described the E-Chhawani portal as an innovative effort to transform the functioning of Cantonment Boards, in line with the vision of ‘New India’. He expressed confidence that the portal will ensure effectiveness and transparency of the services distribution system of the Cantonment Boards and provide time-bound solutions to the residents. Rajnath Singh asked the concerned officers to periodically gather the feedback of beneficiaries in order to make the portal more citizen friendly. Rajnath Singh also stated that in the last few years, India has emerged as a global powerhouse and a land of opportunities due to its strong presence in the fields of defence, economy, trade, IT, agriculture & investment.
In his address, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said, on the portal, the process of availing the services has been simplified for the benefit of the residents of Cantonment areas. He said, more services like filing of property and building tax, collection of rent and booking of community centres will soon be added to the Aadhaar-enabled portal. Dr Ajay Kumar congratulated eGov Foundation, BEL, DGDE and NIC for completing the E-Chhawani project that encompassed 62 independent portals in a short time. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, DG Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) Deepa Bajwa and other senior civil and military officials of Ministry of Defence were present on the occasion.