Patna, Aug. 23: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme moved a step ahead today with a project cleared for e-governance in Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC).

All 72 wards of PMC would soon have computerised citizen civic centres. These centres would allow people to make hassle-free payments against various taxes and also in timely generation of birth and death certificates among other services.

The decision was taken today during a meeting of the State Level Implementation Committee (SLIC) of Bihar under the Centre-sponsored JNNURM scheme. “The SLIC has today approved a project for e-governance in PMC on a pilot basis for a total outlay of Rs 31 crore. The project aims at computerisation and online system of 14 services of PMC.

Under the project, fully computerised citizen civic centres would be developed in every ward so that services are available at the doorstep of the citizens. These civic centres would be connected to a central data centre through local area network, making a completely integrated system of data and information flow. Now, the approved project would be sent to the central government for approval and subsequent release of funds,” said Shashi Shekhar Sharma, the principal secretary of state urban development department, adding that the approval from the Centre is expected to come by September 15.

Master plan

The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University, Ahmedabad has submitted its final draft of Master Plan 2031 for Patna to the state urban development department. Principal secretary of the department Shashi Shekhar Sharma said the plan is a 500-page comprehensive document containing all details of development of Patna metropolitan city till 2031.