Pay certificate most wanted docu in e-Sevai centres

CHENNAI: Most people who approached the Tamil Nadu government’s e-Sevai centres sought income certificate, said officials. In all, more than 31 lakh people sought this certificate in 2021-22, followed by community certificates.

There are more than 12,500 Arasu e-Sevai centres run by Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) across the State, providing over 120 services, including providing certificates to prove community, income, widowhood, nativity, family migration, and intercaste marriage certificates.

A senior official from the IT Department told DT Next that as many as 31,78,156 people obtained income certificates in 2021-22, making it the most sought-after document.

“The second most preferred service was community certificates, with 22,59,872 people, including many students, utilising the centres to collect them,” he said. The next was nativity certificates - 13,64,434 people approached the e-Sevai centres to get their nativity certificates – followed by legal heir certificate. Small/marginal farmer certificate is yet another document that people applied for.

Interestingly, paying electricity bills is the least preferred service. Quoting data, the official said only 57,039 people have paid their power bills online though these centres in 2021-22.

Noting that more people, even those hailing from rural and far-flung areas, have started using these centres for various purposes, the official said the number has gone up to 80 lakh from the 65 lakh people who approached e-Sevai centres for various services the previous year.

Seeing the uptick in the number of applications, the State government is planning to open 100 more e-Sevai centers, which would be established at each district based on requirement put forth by the authorities there. “Similarly, the government is also planning another 100 online certification services through e-Sevai centres,” he added.