Bhubaneswar, May 22: Citizens can now provide suggestions on various infrastructure projects in and around the city by logging on to two websites specially built for the purpose.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had launched the two online portals - PlanPlus and ActionSoft - in August last year. Since they have been on trial.

After fixing several bugs over the past months and making them more user-friendly, the website developer is now set to make them public.

PlanPlus will take suggestions from citizens on various projects, including roads and water supply. On the other hand, ActionSoft will act as a monitoring portal for projects. The portals have been designed to cater to the needs of both urban and rural population of the state.

People living in and around Bhubaneswar will benefit from PlanPlus by sharing their suggestions related to various projects.

"The portals have been designed and were rolled out on a trial basis. We took inputs during the trial run and have now fixed several problems that we came across.

The portals have also been made more user-friendly. Anyone can go online and share their suggestions there. We will try to implement the same while executing the projects," said an official of the housing and urban development department.

There will be an "Add Suggestion" button on the homepage of the PlanPlus portal. By clicking on it, individuals, self-help groups and non-government organisations will be able to submit their suggestions on various ongoing or upcoming infrastructure projects.

Along with their proposed plan, a list of the projects will also be available on the portals.

One of the important aspects of the portals would be that citizens, despite providing suggestion on listed projects, could also ask for specific modifications in their respective areas. The administration will then take the suggestions into consideration and carry out a reality check for the viability of the suggestions and demands made by the citizens. After the scrutiny, the administration will go ahead with the planning process.

Sources said that the main objective behind the portals was to make the rural population part of the planning process.

"The rural people are always deprived of quality infrastructure. It is a nice move to include rural people in the planning process and elicit suggestions from them," said social worker Bikram Routray.

In an attempt to sensitise the citizens on using these portals, the government is also planning to mobilise the community and give a live demonstration on how to use them.

"If we don't sensitise them, they will not use it. There is a need to make them aware that we have something like this for them, which would enable them to convey their requirements," said the official.

"It is a good move by the state government to introduce such a platform for citizens. This will ensure their direct participation in various development projects," said Prakash Nayak, a resident of Nanda Vihar.