In tune with technological trends in Administration, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) is set to launch a mobile phone based applications to deal with most of the civic complaints voiced by the citizens at a faster pace. According to MCG officials, the application, which uses the Android platform, would be available to the residents of the Municipality free of cost and could be downloaded from the Internet. MCG Commissioner, Praveen Kumar, says that he would directly monitor all complaints himself. So, if you find garbage lying around, simply click into the application on your phone and upload the pictures. The location can be easily verified with the help of GPS, which is inbuilt in the application. Praveen Kumar is very excited about this application. He says, “Technology is playing such an important role in our society today. We, as the protectors of the Municipality, can no longer ignore this aspect. This application will also certainly make our jobs easier. Citizens can not only complain, but can offer valuable feedback and suggestions as well.” The application is called ‘Social Cops’, and could be particularly useful to those who are tech savvy and carry the new generation smart phones. But what about those who live beyond the city limits and in the peripheral? The MCG Commissioner, while admitting this issue, says, “But this does not mean that we will give up on the existing means of communication and mechanisms – like Helplines - for receiving complaints from the Municipality residents.
Civic issues are often a big problem in almost all cities in India. The pressure of the population, inadequate infrastructure, virtual lack of planning and quick fixes has often been the bane of various municipal authorities. Thus, just devising another method to receive complaints may not offer the desired result. However, this mechanism may help keep a better ‘online’/’real-time’ check on the apathetic approach of some of the civic officers and others associated with the rectification of local civic issues that inconvenience the lives of residents. The MCG Chief says that his team is working hard and focusing on bettering the civic amenities in every part of the City. The new generation is expectedly quite happy on hearing of this ‘development’. Risha, a resident from the neighbourhood of IFFCO Chowk, is a daily commuter and feels harassed during heavy rains as the area develops acute waterlogging near the station. Interestedly she says, “Hopefully we can show the civic authorities the magnitude of the problems and get them to act…faster.” She adds that as citizens we need to be concerned and proactive, and apply the right pressure on the authorities to help redress our problems - instead of just sitting tight and blaming them without reaching out to them. “I believe that apps such as Social Cops should help,” she says. Prukalpa Shankar and Samarth Goel, co-Founders of Social Cops, are very upbeat about the application. Prakulpa is happy that smart phones are getting more affordable now. Even the cost of Internet usage is reducing by the day. “The application would enable data feeding directly to the MCG authorities. The authorities would also be able to keep track of the relevant complainants, courtesy the GPS device. The app would enable the authorities to quickly relay the problem to the relevant people in the MCG system, thus speeding up actions and redressals,” they say. Even the City Administration is slowly realising that this Millennium City needs to be run differently. Isn’t it surprising that private builders still don’t get it?
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