Nagaland: Kohima Municipal Council launches e-portal; becomes first ULB to go digital

Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 30 (EMN): The Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) went digital on Wednesday with the launching of eKMC portal-online KMC services, shifting manual services online for easier access to citizens.

Advisor for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Dr. Neikiesalie Kire while inaugurating the portal said that KMC is the first Urban Local Body (ULB) to have gone digital with its services.

Towards this, he said that society today is becoming digital and all should be a part of it and encouraged citizens to use technology to the best.

He also observed that Kohima is changing today ‘which is visible with better roads, more footpaths, street lights, cycle tracks (started), CCTVs, parks, etc’. He appealed to citizens to appreciate the efforts of the government even as ‘change is turning into a reality’.

The advisor also requested project developers to do similar projects in other municipalities. Besides the three municipalities, he expressed desire to see Chümoukedima become a municipality because of its ‘cooperation and sustainable base’.

Chief Executive Officer, Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL), K Theunuo said that one of the key objectives of the smart city mission is to make use of innovation and technology to improve existing systems.

‘In the past and even in the present, most of the office work is done manually which includes providing services to citizens resulting in a lot of inefficiencies, thereby hampering quick communication, approvals, and decisions.

‘With the advent of digital technology, Kohima as a smart city has also taken this step to introduce online digital systems by using the latest available software technology. This would propel Kohima and the state to not just become relevant in this digital age but become a leader in e-governance and ultimately become a digital society and a digital government,’ he remarked.

The eKMC is an initiative of KSCDL under the project of Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC).

When the state was in lockdown, the smart city team continued to work despite all the challenges of the pandemic to complete the ICCC project. It consisted of the state-of-the-art control centre along with field components such as smart street lights, automated traffic management systems, environment sensors, city surveillance CCTVs, and an eGovernance module in the form of eKMC, Theunuo added.

Citizens can apply KMC services online

With the introduction of eKMC, citizens can now apply for KMC services such as trade licenses, sales permits, temporary permits, advertisement permits, residential certificates to start with.

This is a complete end-to-end online system so that citizens and local entrepreneurs can apply for these services from anywhere and at any time by just using their mobile phones or laptops without physically visiting the office, and even making payments online, Theunuo informed.

The KMC office will also be able to process and approve the applications completely online. The approved licenses and certificates will also be digital and payments can also be done both online and offline as per the convenience of the applicant.

The Kohima Smart City chief added that they are willing to provide knowledge and support to other municipalities with best practices. He expressed hope that other cities in Nagaland and Northeast will also take the opportunity to learn from Kohima Smart City.

He further informed that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed additional services for KMC through their service plus platform, which would be integrated into the eKMC as a single-window system, he said.

An officer from the NIC, G Lorin, informed that utility services and public grievances are for all ULBs but activated for KMC as a pilot project for now. He expressed hope that citizens in the city will make use of the platform and give feedback, which can be taken into consideration for providing better services in the future.

General Manager planning, KSCDL, Kezhochole Rhetso while giving a technical report on the project, said that Kohima being part of the flagship programme of the Nationwide Smart City Mission is envisaged to adapt and embrace technology-enabled services as one of its e-governance accessible services for its citizens.

‘The KSCDL is delighted to kick-start the online services which were formulated under the Smart City e-governance scope of the ICCC project module. The ICCC think tank IT professionals have painstakingly identified feasible services that can immediately migrate to e-service and have developed the platform for the citizens, trained the KMC personnel and now the actual technology-enabled service appraisal depends upon its actual usage by the citizens,’ she said.

‘By enabling the eKMC service, KSCDL has brought the ULB office to your home, where you can conduct your business from home. Through this service, we aim to minimise the city’s carbon footprint and open opportunities for ease of doing business in the city of Kohima’, she added.

She further informed that the portal would guide citizens to obtain municipal services such as trade license, residential registration, sales permit, pay your bills, advertisement registration, etc.

To access the services, citizens have to register their mobile number/ email id on the website.