Soon, you will be able to update the details of your Aadhaar or PAN card, or pay a bill while sitting at the airport or waiting for a train or metro in New Delhi and Mumbai. The convenience comes courtesy of the government's plans to set up Common Service Centers (CSCs) at major urban locations, including major railway stations.
CSCs can also be accessed to book railway tickets, pay bills, access passport services, telemedicine and banking services. This framework has already been implemented in rural areas as part of the Digital India initiative.
Initially, CSCs will be set up in about 25,000 post offices, 15 airports, 200 railway stations, 50 metro stations in Delhi, Mumbai and 2,000 urban slums across the country, a government official said. Their number will be increased depending on footfall and level of transactions in the first year. "It will be convenient for people to access various services online and help utilise time efficiently. It will also generate employment as staff will be needed to run the centres," a senior official from CSC eGovernance Services Ltd told DNA Money.
There are about 3.8 lakh CSCs across India, with 2.64 lakh in rural areas. About 73,636 of these are managed by women VLEs (Village Level Entrepreneur).
In rural areas, CSCs are a single-access point for delivery of services electronically, including passport enrolment, Aadhaar, besides access to government services such as train tickets, birth certificates, online submission of various forms and bills.
A Rs 15,000-crore proposal for one lakh digital villages has been pitched by CSC eGovernance Services Ltd, the nodal point for the digital villages project. The main objective of 'Digi Gaons' is to transform rural hamlets into smart villages through the use of ICT applications, besides promotion of a self-sustainable service model for residents.
