Karnataka develops a virtual system for business approvals from rural areas

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The state of Karnataka has developed a private online, contactless portal for the business approvals based in rural regions. This is a great move to curb corruption, which would otherwise disrupt the state’s ‘ease of doing business’ ecosystem.

A bunch of services which are under the trade license regime are switched online via a portal of Bapuji Seva Kendra, the rustic equivalent following the protocols like Bangalore One Centres.

The launched website, bsk.karnataka.gov.in, is the portal where one can apply online for those who wish to initiate commercial or industrial activities, food business, hotels, hostels, playschools, and also for the licensing needed for auditorium or public amusement.

An order has been directed by the government for the online submission of applications with the mandate documents and fees, which will be without any physical contact. So, offline applications are not to be submitted to the gram panchayats. The order stated, “The Bapuji Seva Kendra portal does not require any physical touch-point between the applicant and the gram panchayats.”

The portal will also facilitate the applicant to check the development or updates regarding the application.

The state government has provided freedom regarding the application protocols for the licenses to be issued and also renewed automatically, said L K Atheeq, the chief secretary of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj(RDPR). He said, “Now, we have fully integrated these online services with Sakala.”

According to the government order, the gram panchayat has to acknowledge the documents uploaded virtually without demanding for any hard copy of the documents. The order revealed, “The applicant is not required to get in touch with gram panchayats physically except in cases where inspection/site visit is mandated by law.. Any process for clarification on application…shall be raised and replied through Bapuji Seva Kendra portal only.

Also, for any allowances pertaining to road-cutting, it follows the similar virtual service for the rural areas. This implies that for citizens or businesses urging to amend the roads for any work can pass through the application and receive the permit virtually without any intervention from the authorities.

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