Thiruvananthapuram: The vigilance inspection under the name of Operation E-Save was conducted at various Akshaya Centers. It was carried out on the basis of information received that Akshaya Center operators were charging exorbitant fees from the public and District Akshaya Project Officers were taking bribes from Akshaya Center operators aiding in such irregularities. The inspection started at selected Akshaya Centers of the state today from eleven o’clock in the morning as per the instructions of Vigilance Director TK Vinod Kumar.
In order for the public to avail various services of the state government departments, without approaching the said offices, computerized helping centers were formed. As part of this initiative, Akshaya Center Entrepreneurs (ACE) was started under the State Information Technology Department with the recommendation of the local self-government bodies, to enable the public to submit applications for various purposes online and obtain certificates online, without directly approaching the government offices.
The vigilance inspection of Akshaya Centers found that ten times the service fee was charged illegally at the Akshaya Centers. The requirement of providing a computer generated receipt for purchase fee is also not met. Although the government orders issued by the State IT Department in 2013 and 2018 have issued clear guidelines regarding the functioning of Akshaya Centers and the fees that can be charged for various purposes, Vigilance received confidential information that the following irregularities are taking place in some Akshaya Centers contrary to the said order.
The inspection has also found that Akshaya Center operators are acting as middlemen between village officers and sub-registrars.
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