His Excellency Shri V.P. Singh Badnore, Governor of Punjab and Administrator, Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh, launched the Online Visitor's Appointment System (https://evisitors.chd.gov.in) and eOffice in Chandigarh on 2nd July 2019. Shri Manoj Kumar Parida, IAS, Adviser to the Administrator, Shri J.M. Balamurugan, IAS, Secretary to the Administrator, Shri Arun Kumar Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, Home, Shri Ajoy Kumar Sinha, IAS, Finance Secretary, Shri Sanjay Kumar Jha, IAS, Secretary, IT, Shri Jitender Yadav, IAS, Special Secretary, IT, Shri Arjun Sharma, IAS, Director, IT, and other Senior Officials of the UT were also present on the occasion.

The initiative has been taken by the IT Department, Chandigarh Administration to facilitate hassle free meetings of general public with officials of the UT Administration. The Online Appointment System provides citizens with an additional opportunity to take prior appointment before visiting the UT Secretariat to meet Senior Officials of the Chandigarh Administration. They can apply online for an appointment on a preferred date and time by entering some basic information and selecting the official from a pre-defined list. This would benefit especially those who visit from far-off places. The concerned official will have the provision to approve, reject or re-schedule the appointment. The visitors will be duly alerted through SMS and email as and when the status changes. A pass would be issued at the reception when the visitor comes at the scheduled time and shows the SMS and their ID card. There is also a provision to issue periodic pass to frequent visitors.

A file tracking system, using eOffice, has also been introduced which would help the Administration track the file as it moves within a branch or across offices also in a paperless mode. It would facilitate real-time tracking, besides bringing in efficiency in functioning of the Administration. The file pendency would be easily tracked by the officials and SMS alerts for important files would be in place. Important and confidential files could also be tagged. More than 5000 files of the UT secretariat have been digitized and close to 100 staff have been trained. Offices of the UT Administrator and Adviser’s Office have also been covered.

Administrator, UT Chandigarh, expressed happiness on the initiative and congratulated both the IT Department and the NIC Chandigarh UT Unit for the solution which is also a step forward to the Smart City project of ‘Digital India’.

Speaking on the occasion, the UT Administrator said, “Our focus should be to use technology keeping the common citizen in mind. There should be no barriers between the government and the citizens. I am happy that the Administration is taking up initiatives for the betterment of the residents of the UT and improving its functioning.”

The Adviser to the Administrator also appreciated the efforts and said, “Earlier, IT initiatives such as online RTI and online public grievances had been introduced. The new initiatives would also help citizens come closer to the government. These initiatives would be extended to other offices like DC office, MCC and Chandigarh Housing Board.”

The Secretary, Information Technology, added that the Department of IT is working on some key IT initiatives under the ‘Digital India’ which would help in providing better services to the residents and the businesses and also improve functioning of the Administration.

The launching coincided with the fourth anniversary week of the ambitious Digital India Programme of the Government of India. Government of India and all States and UT are running the campaign “#DigitalIndiaNewIndia - 4 Years of Digital Transformation” in this regard.