By IANS
Chandigarh : Khuda Jassu village in the union territory of Chandigarh Monday had its first brush with modern technology after the administration opened its first rural e-governance facilitation centre there.
The centre called the e-Gram Sampark promises to change the way residents of this village go about their everyday lives – from depositing bills to collecting pensions and getting stamp papers.
Inaugurating the centre, Chandigarh administrator S.F. Rodrigues said all villages in the union territory would be provided the facility by the year-end.
"We want to improve the quality of life of our rural people also," Rodrigues said.
Chandigarh city already has 11 e-Sampark centres. People do not have to queue up outside government offices and public offices to deposit bills, obtain certificates, bus passes, pensions and avail other utility services. All this can now be done under one roof.
Residents of Khuda Jassu village thanked the administration for the new utility service even as they wondered about the way it would work.
"This is something new for us. We will have to figure out how to use this facility," said Jaswinder Singh, a villager.
Rodrigues asked Information Technology (IT) officials to monitor the rural e-Sampark centre for the next few months and see if there were any shortcomings that could be overcome while setting up similar centres in other villages.