Bangia Sahayata Kendras: Over 9.5 crore services delivered in about 2 years
KOLKATA: In two-and-a-half years of its inception, Bangia Sahayata Kendras (BSKs) have delivered over 9.50 crore services to about 4.70 crore people bridging the digital divide and extending benefits of good governance to the remotest corners of the State.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government which had emphasized on adopting technology to suit diverging needs of the people had set-up BSKs to provide government services free-of-cost through a dedicated web portal https://bsk.wb.gov.in/.
About 92 per cent of the services delivered to people have originated from rural areas. Out of these services, 39 per cent were delivered to women. Presently, 3561 BSKs are operating from the conspicuous government premises across the State. Another 1461 additional BSKs are being set up in unserved areas having perceptibly popular demand.
With the introduction of e-wallet—which has enabled easy and hassle-free payment of electricity, mutation and other utility bills through BSKs— the effectiveness of BSKs as public institutions has increased manifold. On an average, the volume of monthly transactions through e-wallet has touched 20 crore already.
In another path-breaking transformation, digitally signed certificates with Unique IDs in respect of all major government services are being delivered from BSKs including certificates for Ration Cards, Trade License, Certified copies of Deed, Death and Birth Certificate, Marriage Registration Certificates, ROR Plot Information, Mutation (NKDA) to name only a few.
Aadhaar Updation and Enrolment activities (for children of 0 to 5 years) from BSKs are expected to provide the much-needed relief to the people of the State to a large extent. As many as 1000 BSKs have been identified where from Aadhaar enrolment and updating works are going to commence soon. Plans are afoot to start Aadhaar work in another 1100 BSKs. Special training and consequent certification related activities of the data entry operators are underway.
The phenomenal success of the BSKs has attracted attention of the neighboring countries. A four-member team from Bangladesh visited the Project Management Unit of BSK and some centres in the Howrah district to gain first-hand experience.
