Uproar over digital works module in Nagpur civic body meeting, mayor warns officials

The new digital "works module" system was at the centre of debate at the Nagpur Municipal Corporation's general body meeting, with corporators from both the ruling party and the opposition targeting the administration and criticising officials sharply.

Corporators said the online system, which was introduced to speed up development works and bring transparency, has now become the biggest obstacle to development work. Files related to wards remain pending for weeks on the desks of junior engineers, deputy engineers and executive engineers without moving forward.

A sharp debate on the issue took place in the house, after which the mayor gave strict instructions to the administration. The mayor ordered that accountability of officials be fixed at every level and that a timeline be set for clearing files. Opposition leader Sanjay Mahakalkar raised the issue in the house through a notice.

Responding to questions, additional commissioner Muruganantham clarified that no separate payment has been made to any agency for the works module. He said the module was developed under the existing contract for the Nagpur civic body's entire IT and software maintenance, running from 2023 to 2029. Officials said the first month went into training staff, and departments such as water works faced technical problems because of having lakhs of items, which have now largely been fixed.

During the discussion, members said emergency works such as sewer lines, chambers and drains in the wards of 160 corporators are stuck because of delays in files. Corporators demanded that a maximum time limit be fixed for how long a file can remain with each officer, from junior engineers up to the additional commissioner, and that the system automatically escalate a file if it is not cleared within the set time. They also demanded that corporators be provided tabs and necessary digital equipment soon for real-time tracking of files.

Concluding the debate, mayor Neeta Thakre said the corporators' concerns were justified and gave strict instructions to the commissioner and the administration. She said the new technology system had been brought in to make things easier, not to hold up public work. The mayor said a clear circular should be issued immediately specifying how many days a file can remain at each level, such as junior engineer, deputy engineer, executive engineer, superintending engineer or chief engineer, and that officers who keep files pending without reason should be held responsible and action taken against them.

Opening the discussion, Mahakalkar said the pace of development work has slowed since the works module was implemented. Citing examples from different zones including Nehru Nagar, he said the same file is sent back two or three times citing minor differences in rate, site visit or standard format, and that assistant commissioners and executive engineers posted in the zones are being careless in moving files forward. He said proposals submitted on August 10 had not received administrative approval even by September. Corporator Abhijeet Jha asked why, when the NMC is spending crores of rupees on e-governance, a mandatory rule of a maximum 24 hours or a fixed time period is not being enforced for officials.