Balangir, Jan. 18: Revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro launched the portal of Balangir district here today.
The portal, designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), replaced the old portal of the district which had had not been updated for the past several years. While the URL (universal resource locator) of the website has not been changed, the portal now sports a new look with several new features.
Technical director of NIC, Bhubaneswar, R.N. Behera, who played an important role in developing the portal, said 640 districts from across the country have been selected for developing standard district portals, but Odisha is the first state to take up the project.
“At NIC, it was decided to standardise the portals of all districts. Accordingly, 640 districts were selected and Odisha became the first state to take up the project. Apart from lending a new look to the portal, we have also added several new features including e-grievance and e-application. It has three tiers — national, state and at the district level. The district will be linked to the state and the national network of the NIC.
“In the new portal, We have added a feature called services where people are guided on how they can avail various services such as obtaining a caste certificate, lodging a grievance, obtaining a residence certificate or legal heir certificate. We have also provided a link from where people can download the different utility forms. People can also lodge online grievances to the district collector and the chief minister,” he said.
Behera said that the portal would be managed and updated by the district portal management committee, headed by the district collector.
“The portal would be updated by the district informatics officer. Keeping in view the immense popularity of social network site Facebook, we have integrated the portal with Facebook,” Behera said.
Revenue minister Surya Narayan Patra said people now would not have to run the offices for grievances and applications for services. However, he added that the purpose would not be served unless the portal was updated regularly.
