By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:A high-level review meeting chaired by Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr. Krishna Chandra Mohapatra recently reviewed the performance of citizen service delivery under the ‘Odisha Right to Service Act’ (ORTPS) and the progress of digital service delivery. The review revealed that about 94% of the applications in the 30 notified citizen services under the department have been resolved within the legally prescribed time frame.
Based on the state government’s motto of “Public Service Rights – Government Services at Ease”, the department has continuously made urban citizen service delivery system digital and people-oriented. At present, out of 30 services, 21 are fully available online across the state through the Service Opportunities, Transparency and Special Grievance Redressal Portal, while another 7 services are available online under Bhubaneswar Metropolitan Corporation and Bhubaneswar Development Authority. Only 2 services are currently running in offline mode. To ensure more transparent monitoring and accountability of services, the user acceptance testing of 7 dashboards being developed by the Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative is currently in the final stage.
A total of 6,59,102 applications were received through various digital platforms between 1 April 2024 and 27 April 2026. This reflects the growing trust of the common man in technology-enabled citizen services. Out of these, 6,07,960 applications were resolved within the stipulated ‘Service Level Agreement’ (SLA) timeline, while 10,916 applications are currently under process but are within the stipulated timeline.
Among the service-based performance, 100% timely resolution of 57,715 applications was recorded in the Business License Service with zero pending. 98% in Sewerage Connection Service and 96% in Water and Sewerage Connection Service. The maximum number of applications received in Water and Sewerage Connection Service was 5,02,555. 96% in Property Tax New Assessment Service and 76% in Property Tax Transfer Service were resolved on time. In Marriage Certificate Service, 53% of applications were resolved within the time limit, while 46% of applications were resolved after the stipulated time.
The meeting also reviewed the online building plan approval system and various permits related to urban development. While the system has simplified the cumbersome technical verification process, it has been felt that there is a need to speed things up in some areas. Out of 15,984 applications, 41% were approved within the time limit, while out of 3,571 building plan applications in other categories, 31% were approved within the stipulated time. While the time limit for modification and alteration permits was 40% in low-risk categories and 37% in other categories, the timely approval rate for occupancy certificates is 23%.
In the review meeting, Minister Dr. Mohapatra directed to follow a “zero tolerance” policy towards undue delay in service delivery. He said that the convenience of citizens is the top priority of the government and all the civic bodies, development authorities and field level officers will identify the reasons for delay and resolve them immediately and ensure delivery of services within the stipulated time frame.
So far, 23,740 applications have been resolved after the deadline, while 16,705 applications are pending after the deadline. This includes 9,082 applications for water and sewerage connections, 2,786 for low-risk building plans, and 1,261 for other categories of building plans.
Speaking at the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Usha Padhi said, “The department is continuously using digital governance tools to make citizen services easy, transparent and accountable. Our aim is not just to resolve applications quickly, but also to make the urban governance system of Odisha more people-oriented, responsive and technology-enabled.”
