Row over Rs 125-cr dues has sewa kendras in doldrums

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22

Even as the Punjab Government is contemplating to rationalise sewa kendras to bring down the running costs, uncertainty looms over their functioning as the operator running these centres has sought dues of over Rs 125 crore from the government.

Citing an agreement with the government, the operator claims that the dues of employees and vendors have not been settled for the last few months.

Though officials maintain that the centres were meant to be largely self-sustaining as the operator was supposed to recover the costs by offering services, the latter has cited the agreement signed with the previous SAD-BJP government. According to it, the government would pay certain amount to enable the operator bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure till certain period.

As per the official record, the average monthly revenue generated by these centres is nearly Rs 4 crore against the monthly expenditure of Rs 17 crore.

A senior government official says the problem lies in the agreement between the then government and the operator. At 2,146 sewa kendras opened by the previous government, 153 citizen-centric services are provided to the people.

Sources say the operator has claimed that the piling up of fiscal liability is affecting the services at the centres. An option being cited was downsizing the operations, resulting into delay in services.

These citizen-service centres were initially named suvidha centres. These are run by Sukhmani Society, headed by the deputy commissioner concerned. In August last year, the suvidha centres were rechristened as sewa kendras.