DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Making optimum use of the internet to provide hassle-free services to people at their doorsteps, Punjab Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department has adopted a new mantra to bring far more efficiently while ensuring time-bound services to the people in a transparent manner, said H&UD Minister Aman Arora. He said that the creation of a robust online system is among the various people-centric initiatives taken by the department to provide an honest and transparent model of governance. The single portal designed by the H&UD offers numerous services including regularization of plots and buildings, Change of ownership, and procuring NOCs, etc at a click, that too in a mandated timeline. Earlier, an applicant had to make numerous rounds to the government offices to get these basic services done, he added. Giving a major reprieve to the people who bought properties in unauthorized colonies, the H&UD department has introduced a facility for online submission and processing of applications on the regularization portal www.punjabregularization.in for obtaining NOC. Further, the timeline for issuance of NoCs has also been reduced to 15 working days from the earlier stipulated period of 21 days to ensure quick and timely disposal of applications, Arora said. Pertinently, this facility of regularization could be availed only by those allottees/residents whose properties fall under the unauthorized colonies developed before March 19, 2018. Earlier, the applications were processed offline so the applicants had to wait a long time for getting issued the NOC. Now, the portal extends a large number of facilities such as online submission of applications, online payment, status checking of applications, and online disposal of the same. This one single portal is designed for the regularization of plots and buildings falling within MC and outside the MC area for quick disposal of applications. To fix accountability in the functioning and ensure all the services in time bound manner, In first, the H&UD department has also made digitally signed permissions accessible to the owners of their properties, thereby bringing in 100 percent transparency in the functioning of the department, which will further create a mechanism that people won't need to file RTI to access these permissions. "I have been personally monitoring the status of online services and delay in disposal of any application will not be tolerated," reiterated Aman Arora. All the applications regarding these 25 services are being processed online; besides providing services i.e. real-time tracking of applications, issuance of digitally signed certificates and intimation through SMS alert, he added. (editor@dailyworld.in)