New Delhi: Amid the nationwide lockdown over the Coronavirus outbreak in India, the Delhi government is ensuring e-passes to the essential service providers along with normal passes. Till now the Delhi government has
issued nearly 30,000 e-passes to the essential service providers of which 2,239 are normal passes.
The Delhi government is not only issuing passes to the essential service providers but also to the vehicles carrying the essential commodities. Till now the Delhi government has issued over 1,000 e-passes to the vehicles carrying essential commodities. Many state governments have asked for information about the e-pass system of the Delhi government to implement in their respective states.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had come up with a solution for private sector employees engaged in essential services who need to be out during the lockdown and are being stopped by the police. Kejriwal had earlier announced that e-passes will be issued in the interest of vegetable vendors, grocers, milk sellers and other essential service providers to ensure smooth supply of daily use items in Delhi during this time.
The Delhi government has given the responsibility of issuing this passes to all the officers of District Magistrates of 11 districts. The Delhi government has received around 66,082 applications for e-passes. Out of this, 17,892 applications have been approved. In addition, the government has received 5,090 duplicate applications, whose e-passes have already been issued. At the same time, 44,301 applications are being scrutinised and passes will be issued soon.
According to earlier data, New Delhi had witnessed the highest number of people who have received the passes (678 normal passes and 1626 e-passes) followed by
South Delhi where 534 people had received normal passes and 968 people had received e-passes.
After the lockdown was announced, the Delhi government witnessed that many of the essential service providers were facing problem in travelling because they did not have company ID cards. The Delhi government has also requested the police that till the time the government is working to provide these passes, the police should allow people who are carrying essential commodities. The Delhi government has also clarified that no citizen will require such passes to visit the nearby markets or shops to buy essential commodities.
The Delhi government has started a helpline number, 1031 for passes. People were urged not to make general calls on this number as it would lead to congestion of the line.
"If you call the 1031 number, an SMS \will be sent to your mobile number with a link to submit basic details along with the copy of a government identity card. The district officials concerned will issue the e-pass following scrutiny of documents and eligibility. The pass has a QR code and the police can check the authenticity of the pass through that. There is also a link available online which can be used to apply for these passes. Due to high volume of calls many people are getting the helpline number busy but we will resolve the issues soon. I will request to follow the above procedures instead of reaching out to DM offices, which will be time consuming," said Gopal Mohan, advisor of the Delhi Chief Minister.
The e-passes will remain valid till April 14.