AAP doorstep ration delivery in Punjab after Delhi. Mann says, 'Our officers…'

The CM said officers will people call to ask the timings of the scheme. It is an optional scheme.

After Delhi, the AAP-led Punjab government will start doorstep delivery of ration for the beneficiaries, announced chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday. “Our officers will call you to ask the timings of the same and will deliver at that time. It is an optional scheme,” Mann said.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.

Before the recently held Punjab assembly elections, which the AAP won with a thumping majority, the party's national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that his government would implement the doorstep delivery services, a system that the AAP government first introduced in Delhi.

Under the Delhi government’s doorstep delivery scheme, the Kejriwal government promised home delivery of 100 essential public services, including caste and marriage certificates, driving licence, and new water connections, and set up a special helpline number for the purpose.

The Delhi government is planning to expand the services to around 400 by early next year, according to senior government officials and documents seen by HT.

The project was launched in September 2018 with 30 public services such as the delivery of caste certificates, marriage certificates, birth certificates, and drivers’ licences. In 2019, the government added 70 more public services to the list, taking the total to 100. The government planned to add more services in 2020 and 2021, but couldn’t extend it because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To avail the services, a citizen has to call 1076.

According to the Delhi government, the doorstep delivery scheme has a robust infrastructure with 80 dedicated call centre representatives. The Delhi government is also developing a new and improved software application for the doorstep delivery of public services scheme.

The government has claimed that no citizen of the national capital would have to stand in queues for the services listed under the scheme.