eCity(AMC), a project undertaken by the Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat

The Objective of the Project
Provide better services to CITIZENS of Ahmedabad
Provide easy access to the information
Eliminate discretionary human interface
Reduce files, process data and make the decision making processes faster
Raise resources for AMC
Salient Features:
Citizen can avail services from any counter in any of the centers
Help Desk fully equipped with necessary documents, forms and other assistance
Speedy delivery of services
Trained operator for providing services
Necessary provision of allied services
Services can be provided beyond office hours

What is the Project?
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is the first Municipal Corporation in India to facilitate better performance of the delivery of municipal services like birth and death registration, building plan, primary health and education, city cleanliness, water supply, sewage, road, street-lights, parks and garden through e-governance to the 36 Lacs citizens of the city. For this Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has established six City Civic Centers located in five zones of Ahmedabad city and also created forty-three ward civic offices all these interconnected via intranet/ Internet connectivity. AMC has endeavored that a Citizen need not to come to Municipal Office for paying any fee/ taxes which he can pay through net/bank/ cyber café. All this information is available on the website www.egovamc.com so that 24-hour remote access to AMC transactions and services are available.
Now at the click of the button, the citizens are able to see the property dues pertaining to them as on that moment or can access their birth and death record to check their entries. The Citizens are also able to look at the Infrastructural works being taken up in the Corporation while contractors are able to access the various tender notices alive at that moment. A builder can check the status of disposal of the building application made by him while citizens are able to track the status of disposal of the complaints or grievances made by them through the internet or through the Civic Center or in person.
The Web Site also gives online information related to the information as to how the property tax is arrived at, related procedures and government rules, building rules, regulations etc. There are so many information is available on our website like NRI directory, AMC Balance sheet, Voters list etc. The web site also carry linkages to the office Internet for the management, allowing them to gain access to it from any where by using their specific password.

CITY CIVIC CENTRE - A ONE STOP CIVIC SHOP

Not everybody in the country like ours has access to internet or much more so has the knowledge of computers. To mitigate this, the project decided to establish six computerized City Civic Centers which act as an outlet for citizens to have access to the civic services. The Civic Center has string of computers on the network and allows citizens to avail facilities like payment of property taxes, getting a death/birth certificates, file a water tap/ drainage connection request, apply & get building plan approval, lodge a complaint/grievance related to property taxes or sanitation, make miscellaneous payments and everything which requires physical presence and can't be transacted on the net through website.
As the Civic Center is on the network and connected to the main server which in turn is connected through the global internet protocol, the citizens can track the status of their application later on through the Corporation Website. For doing so, a unique registration number is allotted to every applicant, which can be later used to track the status. The system also helps system managers and corporation management to carry out internal monitoring about the disposal and redressal of such applications putting paid to any chance of delay, harassment leading to nepotism and corruption. The operation of the City Civic Center have also been connected to the web thereby bringing in transparency about the number of applications received and the concerned department to which they relate.
It's only a beginning as the areas where technology can make governments do their job better are endless. The gains are palpable, citizens are getting used to it considering the hits the site is getting. With Internet kiosks spreading all over, this can really become a harbinger for uniting the communities and making them feel better.

At present following services are offered at each City Civic Center:
Registration of Complaints
Instant Issuance of Building Plan Permissions
Payments of All Municipal Dues (Property Tax and Vehicle tax etc.)
Registration & Issuance of Birth and Death Certificate
Issuance of Licenses for Shops and Establishments
Information on Infrastructure Projects and Tenders
Issuance of Health and Hawker’s Licenses
Right to Information Application Received
Professional Tax
Pro Rata Charges (PRC Connection) water meter

Benefits:
Though the project is just an effort to leverage the benefits of ICT to the Citizen at large, as are other ICT projects, the following are perceived as the particular benefits of the pilot project:
Transparency to the citizens
Information & Accountability at the finger tips both for the citizens as well as employees of the Corporation
Increase in revenue for the Corporation