20 new B1 centres open

20 new B1 centres open
DH News Service, Bangalore:
Twenty new BangaloreOne centres were inaugurated on Monday by Governor Rameshwar Thakur, taking the total number of the integrated citizen service centres to 39.

The new centres, located in the densely populated areas of the city and in the extension areas like Kengeri, HBR Layout and HSR Layout, are expected to serve more than three lakh people every month.

This will take the number of beneficiaries of BangaloreOne to over eight lakh per month. The citizens can avail themselves of 29 services out of which 21 belong to government departments and eight belong to private companies.

Speaking on the occasion, IT and BT, Principal Secretary M N Vidyashankar said that the new services like KSRTC ticket bookings, payment of LIC premium, provident funds premium and commercial taxes will be extended shortly at the BangaloreOne centres. In addition to the 39 existing centres, he said 20 more centres will be added before December 2008.

As part of the expansion plans to other cities across the State, he said integrated citizen service centres on the lines of BangaloreOne centres will start operations at Hubli-Dharwar during the first week of March, which will be followed by new centres in Gulbarga, Belgaum, Mysore and Mangalore.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur, in his address, said that information and communication technology has transformed the service delivery mechanism and Karnataka is a front-runner in adopting cutting edge technologies. “I assure you that the government will provide full support for the extension of such services. The Government departments and private service providers should integrate and offer their services at BangaloreOne centres,” he said.

Praising the services offered by BangaloreOne, Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman B K Chandrashekar stressed the need for IT to be diversified to different fields especially, rural development.

He also said that the citizens should actively take part in giving suggestion for improving the existing service systems and that the BangalorOne centre should make the delivery system more effective and be prepared to pay penalties if there is a delay in offering services.

New centres
Sadashivanagar, Kumaraswamy layout, R T Nagar, HBR layout, RMV 2nd stage, Nandini layout, Rajajinagar, Vijayanagar, Nagarbhavi, Kengeri, Basaveshwaranagar, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Banashankari 3rd Stage, J P nagar, Jayangar, HSR layout, Koramangala, Austin town, BTM layout and Indiranagar.