Sambalpur, Oct. 31: The website www.citizenportal-op.gov.in, which was launched to enable people lodge complaints online, has received poor response in Sambalpur district.

The portal, which is part of centre's Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), was launched on October 1 last year.

The police had organised awareness meetings in several areas to sensitise the people about the portal before it was launched. The people, who took part in the meeting, were also made aware how they could benefit from the system.

As many as 23 police stations operate in the district. Training was imparted to the personnel of the 23 police stations to handle the CCTNS system and citizen portal.

However, the effort of the police has failed to attract complainants to lodge cases online.

Only 21 persons have used the portal for lodging cases online. Only two persons have accessed the service to seek permission for taking out a procession, 17 persons have used it for employment verification and only seven have accessed the service for lost property request.

Sources in the district police said though more than 250 cases are lodged at the police stations of the district every month, the number of online registration of cases was very low.

"The system is very beneficial for the people, especially for women and senior citizens, who are hesitant to go the police stations. But the service has failed to receive good response because of the lack of awareness. Moreover, many people do not prefer it because they do not have Internet connectivity at home," said a lawyer Sandhyarani Mohapatra.

Deputy superintendent of police S. Tiga said: "We had made adequate propagation and sensitised the people regarding the citizen portal. We have asked the police officers of the district to motivate the people to lodge cases online. We are hopeful that more people will use the portal in future."

The portal offers a number of services to complainants, including the request for an FIR copy, registration of missing persons, request for events and processions, registration of loss of property, submission of request for availing a character certificate and tenant and employee verification.

"It is a pro-people service. The people should make use of the service," said a police officer.

"I was expecting a large number of people to use the service. But I was surprised when I came to know that very few persons have assessed the portal. The police should create awareness about the service," said Manoj Pradhan, a resident of the city.