Only 3,300 Swachhta mobile app downloads, MC worried

Charanjit Singh Teja

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 27

The office of Municipal Corporation, Amritsar has issued an appeal to the residents for downloading the ‘Swachtta’ mobile application, launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2016. Even after repeated requests, only 3,300 downloads have been recorded.

The download target for the cities vying for improved cleanliness ranking is 23,500, and in case a city achieves it, the Centre awards 150 points for the upcoming survey ‘Swachh Sarvekshan — 2018’.

It is expected that a team of the Central Government may visit Amritsar in the first week of February and officials are in fear that they may lose some points in the wake of residents’ lukewarm response to the app. The objective of mobile application is to redress the complaints of residents within 24 hours.

Earlier, the MC office was bit late in launching the application in the holy city. Now, it is struggling for its promotion. The authorities are now trying to get maximum downloads before the team visits holy city but it too seems to be an uphill task.

The department is also facing a major hurdle as majority of the staff assigned with the sanitation duty don’t have smartphones. Even those having it are not aware of the app usage.

MC Health Officer, Dr Raju Chowan said the corporation had promoted the application through various seminars and lectures but the target couldn’t be achieved. He said, “I have made an appeal to the public that they must download the app rapidly for the betterment of the city.”

Suresh Kumar, a resident of Majitha road, said, “I have downloaded the application and it is good for redressing complaints regarding cleanliness. It is unfortunate that a large number of people has not downloaded it. I feel politicians have not urged the public to do so enthusiastically.”