Residents complain about poor digital services at e-seva centres in Greater Chennai Corporation wards
Residents said the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) recent announcement of plans to establish new e-seva centres in all 200 wards to improve access to services such as Aadhaar updates, income and nativity certificates, was a welcome move, but it needed to first ensure that the existing e-seva centres were functional. They also urged the government to specify a timeline for this, and stick to it.
'In ward 182, residents come every day asking when the e-seva centre will reopen,' said K.P.K. Sathish Kumar, Opposition Leader in the GCC Council. The Perungudi zone centre, once run by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) and inaugurated by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2015, has remained non-operational since the pandemic-induced lockdown.
The situation is no better in north Chennai. 'People are being sent to taluk office centres for basic services,' said T.K. Shanmugam, president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents' Welfare Associations. 'The coordination between departments is lacking. These centres should be efficient, and help people finish their tasks fast, not be a bigger burden for them,' he added.
Geetha Ganesh, secretary of the AGS Colony Residents' Welfare Association, pointed to systemic inefficiencies. 'The token system is never followed when there are crowds, and network issues are routine. For Aadhaar-related work, we're told to go elsewhere. That defeats the purpose of a one-stop neighbourhood digital centre,' she said.
While this has always been the case, the pressure has started mounting, as it usually does ahead of summer exam results, when thousands of students and families will require certificates to put in their applications for college admissions. With 60% of private centres — licensed by the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency or the Government of India — shut down due to poor viability, residents have naturally turned to the government, in this case, the GCC, for answers.
Lack of trained staff is another major hurdle. 'Many centres that did reopen are unable or unwilling to provide full services due to their staff's inadequate training,' said a councillor, adding that both staff and infrastructure need urgent upgrades.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Not one claim from booth level agents of parties in 24 hours of poll roll publication
NEW DELHI: Not a single claim or objection was filed within the first 24 hours of publication of the draft electoral roll in Bihar, by any of the 1.6 lakh booth level agents (BLAs) deployed by a dozen political parties across the state's 90,712 booths. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, EC said 3,223 applications were received between 3pm on Aug 1 and 3pm on Aug 2, for fresh enrolment of electors turning 18 years on the cutoff dates July 1 and Oct 1, 2025. All have submitted their Form 6 with the mandatory declaration. As reported by TOI, EC, in an exercise aimed at 100% transparency, put out the first of its daily reports Saturday on the partywise claims and objections received from BLAs and resolved by the electoral registration officer or assistant ERO. As per rules, claims and objections are to be disposed of after the expiry of seven days. The update shared by the poll panel lists 'zero' claims and objections filed between 3pm on Aug 1 and 3pm on Aug 2, by the BLAs appointed by RJD, Congress, CPM, AAP, BSP, National People's Party, BJP, JD(U), CPI (ML) (Liberation), LJP (Ram Vilas), Rashtriya LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party. The district election officers of all of Bihar's 38 districts had Friday shared the draft electoral roll for all 90,712 polling booths with the political parties. It also provided them the list of electors who were there in the roll as on June 24, 2025, but are not in the draft electoral roll published Friday. The absence of any claim or objection from RJD, which has 47,506 BLAs in the field, is interesting given that Saturday started with party chief claiming his name was not in the roll. The claim turned out to be incorrect as a copy of the draft roll for the relevant booth in Digha assembly constituency lists not only Tejashwi as entry no. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 416, but also his wife Rajshree as entry no. 445. Tejashwi had earlier, while objecting to the non-inclusion of Aadhaar in list of documentation accepted under SIR, voiced the fear that his wife, who only has Aadhaar, may not be on the roll. EC on Saturday said it is not able to understand why Tejashwi is making such baseless allegations. As regards his fears regarding large-scale deletions, the poll panel said he should ask his 47,506 BLAs to file claims and objections, for which they have an entire month from Aug 1 to Sept 1. "No BLA of any political party has submitted a single case to BLOs during the last 24 hours. This, despite all BLAs having agreed to go through the boothwise draft lists given to them on August 1, carefully," said the commission. EC is meanwhile issuing advertisements in print, TV and social media to create awareness among the electors of Bihar regarding the option of filing claims and objections. It will also set up special camps in all block-cum-office circles and urban local body offices, from 10am to 5pm on all days till Sept 1. Any elector of Bihar can check his name in the draft electoral roll by filling his EPIC number directly on the EC voters' portal and can also file claims and objections.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Explosive! FBI 'Blocked' Trump's Name In Epstein Docs? Musk Claims 3 Democrats On 'Sealed' List
A stunning Bloomberg report has revealed that the FBI redacted Donald Trump's name from the Epstein files, citing privacy exemptions due to his status as a private citizen during the original investigation. Dozens of other high-profile names were also blacked out. Elon Musk later claimed the list contains major Democratic figures and donors as well, suggesting this is why the documents remain sealed. Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly warned Trump in May about his name appearing in the files. Despite public pressure, the DOJ and FBI declared in July that there was 'no basis' for further release of Epstein-related materials. Read More
Hindustan Times
12 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Kharge criticises ECI, says poor and minorities ‘deliberately' excluded in SIR
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI), calling the draft voters' list released during the special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral roll a 'deliberate' move to disenfranchise the poor, marginalised and minorities. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was speaking at the Annual Legal Conclave organised by the Congress in New Delhi. (PTI photo) Speaking at the Annual Legal Conclave organised by the Congress in New Delhi, Kharge said, 'If 6.5 to 10 million voters are being excluded in a state of 70 million, it's not an error, it's a calculated decision to remove the marginalised from the democratic process.' Kharge asserted that accountability will follow for those in the poll body. 'Whether they are serving or retired, ECI officials won't be spared if they break the rules. They're in a dangerous position – lying for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – and that cannot go on unchecked', he said. Referring to the Supreme Court's directive allowing Aadhaar, Voter ID or ration card for voter verification in the SIR process, Kharge claimed the ECI ignored it deliberately. 'They knew that if more people were allowed to enrol, the votes would go to Congress,' he said. Also Read: Kharge writes to RS deputy chair on CISF officers blocking protests by MPs He also alleged that Opposition voices, including his own and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, are routinely muffled in Parliament. 'Microphones are switched off the moment we try to speak,' he said. Kharge also spoke on the resignation of former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar claiming that the BJP ousted him when he showed signs of independence. 'The moment he accepted the motion to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma, they saw him as a threat. They pressured him to withdraw or resign', he said. The 2003 Bihar SIR data was published days before the ECI launched the fresh exercise to revise the electoral roll on June 28 as a reference point for the submission of identification documents. Nearly 60% of the total electorate were not required to submit any documents. They had to verify their details and submit enumeration forms.
