The India Post, Chandigarh 5th February , 2009 :Sampark centres are successfully operating in the city beautiful since September 2004. e-Sampark centres together have achieved 2 lacs transactions in the month of January 2009 alone. These centres provide the services of all departments under one single umbrella and give city residents a multi-service, single window experience. Till date, nearly 10 e-Sampark centres are operating in the city and 5 more such centres are in pipeline.
Figures shows that citizens of city beautiful are making full utilization of varied Public Utility Services, provided by the Department of Information Technology, Chandigarh Administration through these Sampark centres. Since its launch in September 2004, INR 1651 Crores of Government revenue has been collected from 62.74 Lac transactions. Other reasons for popularity of Sampark centres among city residents are long working hours, one stop solutions for number of facilities (presently 22 G2C & 5 B2C services), online payment through credit/debit cards, better turn around in receipt, processing and issues of services and acceptance of RTI applications, which allow free flow of information.
The purpose of setting up of Sampark centres was to create a knowledge-based society through extensive use of IT as a medium for effective interaction between the Administration and the public so that exchange of information and access to government departments is speedy and easy, leading to a better quality of life.
Before this initiative, the common man had to make multiple visits for a single transaction apart from standing in long queues and wait for a few days to few weeks for the end result. But now, with the help of Sampark centres, the Administration is successful in providing a one stop solution to city residents, as various services, which were available earlier at independent islands and sometimes resulted in duplication of work, are being delivered at these centres.