Punjab Cabinet to shut down over 1,600 'Sewa Kendras'
Punjab Cabinet to shut down over 1,600 'Sewa Kendras' : Punjab Cabinet decided to shut down over 1,600 Sewa Kendras, started by the former Akali-BJP government in the state for people to avail citizen-centric services near their homes. Sewa Kendras were providing over 100 citizen-centric services such as issuing the death and birth certificates to people.
An official said "Punjab cabinet has decided to close all but 500 of the state's 2,147 Sewa Kendras, with the Chief Minister directing the concerned department to explore the possibility of using the infrastructure of the remaining centres as Anganwadis or Panchayat Ghars."
The Chief Minister presided over the decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet. The cabinet decided to serve a 180-day notice, as required, to end the contract with the current service provider of the Sewa Kendras, the release said. The contract with the provider, who was charging the government Rs 220 crore annually, was for five years.
It was pointed out during the discussion on the issue in the cabinet meeting that the Sewa Kendras were constructed at a cost of Rs 200 crore, with Rs 1,400 crore estimated to be spent on their operations in five years, it said.
Health Minister Brahm Mahindra described this as a criminal waste of public money and called for an inquiry into the matter. The cabinet also took note of a proposal of the Department of Governance Reforms, which suggested rationalization of the operations of the Sewa Kendras, as well as the report of the committee formed under the Chief Secretary to study the functioning of these Kendras.
The committee had found that the state required only 500 such centres, which could be managed by the DCs. To make the Sewa Kendras project financially viable, the cabinet decided on shifting their operations to a new model.
- PTC News
