E-Paper
Data loss halts processing of online public services
Dept to governance reforms to approach applicants for submission of documents again
Processing of four public services has come to a grinding halt in the state after data of scores of applicants has vanished.
According to a communication sent by the department of governance reforms (DGF) to all deputy commissioners on February 19 (HT has a copy), the state authorities have no access to the record of those who applied for arms licences, birth/death certificates, rural area certificates and economically weaker section (EWS) certificates.
In a circular, Parminder Pal Singh, additional secretary-cum-director of the governance reforms department, stated that attachments of scanned copies of supporting documents with online applications are not traceable by the authorities concerned.
The circular attributes the database loss to a ‘technical issue’ due to which officials are unable to process applications.
Official sources said the applications for the four public services are received online through sewa kendras.
It is learnt that data loss was detected early this month.
The state government has outsourced the online services at seva kendras to two private agencies — BLS Kendras Private Ltd and Digiqal Services Solutions.
The circular has also been marked to top officials of various departments and the two agencies.
Parminder Pal Singh was not available for his comments despite HT’s repeated phone calls. It is not clear yet if the authorities have fixed accountability for the data loss.
However, officials said they have been asked to contact applicants individually to tell them to submit their relevant documents again.
“There is no clarity over the number of applicants whose data has been lost. Also, we have no information about the date from which the data loss started,” said a senior official, seeking anonymity.
Officials said DGF authorities are planning to make phone calls and send messages to the registered mobile phone numbers mentioned in the application forms to tell them to submit relevant documents again.
They said the two private agencies have been directed not to charge any fee for scanning and uploading documents from applicants whose data has been lost.
