Kulgam, Dec 22: A single tehsil in Kulgam district has issued 1,32,550 online applications as residents increasingly embrace digital services for convenience. The shift follows the introduction of online revenue services aimed at easing access for the public.
Bilal Ahmad, Tehsildar Kulgam, told Rising Kashmir that the office now functions almost entirely as an e-office, eliminating the need for physical visits for processing applications or documents.
“Ever since these services were made available online, we have received 1,41,802 applications up to December 21 and successfully issued 1,32,550 of them,” he said.
He added that corruption practices have been completely eliminated through these online interfaces, marking a “revolutionary” step in governance.
Tehsildar Kulgam said that 9,252 applications were rejected for failing to meet the required norms. Importantly, no certificates have been issued beyond the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA) timelines.
Mohammad Amir, a local student from Kulgam, said he is a college student and needed an income certificate to submit his scholarship application online. He said that he submitted his application online and received it via email within two days without having to visit any office.
“I submitted it from my home, but I would like to see further improvement in the services,” Amir added.
Bilal Ahmad said the “Revenue Plus” and “Jansugam” platforms have been transformative, streamlining services such as domicile certificates, Fard, Intikhabat, mutation attestations, scholarships, reservation certificates, and character and unemployment certificates. These revolutionary platforms have significantly reduced office visits, enabling students, farmers, and others to access documentation conveniently from their homes.
“Online services have saved time and eliminated long queues. The digital system also secures records, reducing the risk of damage or loss associated with physical documents,” he said, adding that all records have been digitized, scanned, and placed in the public domain, securing them from theft and natural disasters, which were common in the past.
He said that the shift to an online mode has eliminated the cumbersome, time-consuming process of the past, where obtaining a simple income certificate required visiting multiple officials. Now, applications are submitted and processed within a day, often from the comfort of one’s home.
Of the processed applications, 81,714 were for domicile certificates, 21,683 for income certificates, 4,057 for character certificates, and 23,109 for revenue-related documents such as Fard, Intikhabat, and Jamabandi.
Bilal Rangrez, who applied for an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificate, found the process much easier through the online system, which has traditionally been seen as a difficult task. He said that although he was working at a petrol pump and had limited time for office visits, he followed the process online.
“I only had to visit Patwari, Naib Tehsildar, and Tehsildar once. After that, all other formalities were completed online. The Patwari and higher officials visited my home to verify the requirements, and after the Tehsildar’s visit, the certificate was delivered online without any cost,” he said.
Tehsildar Kulgam acknowledged that while it is their duty to maintain honesty and transparency, the success of this process has been made possible with the guidance and support from higher authorities, particularly Deputy Commissioner Kulgam, Athar Aamir Khan.
