New Delhi, Feb 16 : In a big relief to over 20 lakh residents of 62 Cantonment Boards across the country, the Defence Ministry has come up with an online platform to provide basic civic services with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launching the 'e-Chhawani' portal and mobile application here on Tuesday. Through the portal, the residents in the cantonment areas will be able to avail basic services like renewal of leases, application for birth and death certificates, water and sewerage connections, trade licences, mobile toilet locators and payment of different types of taxes and fees, with just a click of the button. The portal, jointly developed by eGov Foundation, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) and National Informatics Centre (NIC), provides a platform to the residents to avail these services from the comfort of their homes. Speaking on the occasion, Singh reiterated the government's commitment of socio-economic development of the country by providing maximum facilities to the people and making the administration efficient and transparent. He said the government is striving to make the system citizen-friendly and provide services that facilitate 'ease of living' and 'ease of doing' for the people. Singh described the e-Chhawani portal as an innovative effort to transform the functioning of Cantonment Boards, in line with the vision of 'New India'. He expressed confidence that the portal will ensure effectiveness and transparency of the services distribution system of the Cantonment Boards and provide time-bound solutions to the residents. Singh asked the concerned officers to periodically gather the feedback of beneficiaries in order to make the portal more citizen friendly. He also stated that in the last few years, India has emerged as a global powerhouse and a land of opportunities due to its strong presence in the fields of defence, economy, trade, IT, agriculture and investment. Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said that the process of availing the services has been simplified for the benefit of the residents of the cantonment areas. He said more services like filing of property and building tax, collection of rent and booking of community centres will soon be added to the Aadhaar-enabled portal. /IANS