Citizen Facilitation Centres

Pune district

services

In this season for admissions into schools and colleges, the flurry at the(CFC), where critical documentations such as caste and domicile certificates are issued, is an annual phenomenon.So are the touts infesting the place, making a quick buck of the crusty government machinery. Here, the government officials take several months to deliver the certificates that are officially to be issued in 21 days. The touts do the same in just two days!The speed comes at a price, of course. The certificates that officially cost Rs 30-33 are sold by these touts anywhere between Rs 1,200 and 12,000, depending on the recipient’s desperation and the complications in the documentation.Defeating the very raison d’être of these centres, the officials are working hand in glove with the middlemen to line their pockets, clearly slowing down the official process even further.Mirror team had a first-hand taste of this well-oiled system, during a visit to the CFC at State Transport bus-stand, near the Pune railway station.The agents were seen roaming the place freely, even accessing the internal offices of the centre rather fluidly. Needless to say, they were quick to spot business as the team stepped in.The first two to approach, on the third floor of the centre, promised to make a quick job of procuring the requisite certificate at a price of Rs 5,000 if all the relevant documents were in order. “I assure you, you will have the caste certificate in two days. You may, however, have to pay extra if there are any issues with the validating documents,” informed one of the two men, who identified himself as Sharnam.He confidently flaunted his nexus with the officials inside. When we tried to coax him into a bargain, his partner intervened, “This is the minimum you pay. It is not negotiable. The amount increases with complications in the paperwork. The decision is yours. If you cannot pay, wait for two months.”The negotiations inside the centre blatantly continued for an hour. Finally Sharnam, convinced that he was sealing a deal, offered, “Take down my number and call me when you’ve put all the required documents together. But please don’t ask for discount as I’ve quoted the minimum rate. We too have to pay the authorities, as everyone has a share in it. You pay half the amount at the time of applying for the certificate and the other half when you get the paper. No receipt will be given. I can get the work done on holidays too.”Then again, at the ground floor of the centre, two more agents were encountered. It turned out that each broker has his spot for doing business marked out and only operates from there. One fellow actually handed out a visiting card that gave his contact number and credentials –— Omkar Enterprises — Nitin Ranpise.With such trappings in place, he staked claim to being a professional. “If you want to get a caste certificate you have to pay Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000, nothing less. This is only time in the year we see the rush. No one will turn up here once the admissions are over. So everybody is making the most of it. You have to pay without negotiating — half the amount before and half later. All in cash and no receipts,” he reiterated.But a bigger revelation awaited at the Maha E-seva Kendra, Sarthak Enterprises, at Somwar Peth. Here the lady at the official counter quoted rates way above the known government pricing. “Normally you pay Rs 1,200 for any certificate and it takes about 15 days to come through. However, no receipt will be given to you, only the caste certificate. For any affidavit or additional documents the charges are extra,” she declared.This enterprise has turned into a harassment for students up against a tight deadline. “In the past week I have come to this centre at the ST stand adjacent to the railway station thrice. Extracting my caste certificate from here in time seems to be next to impossible.Let alone being co-operative, the staff here are outright rude. If you seek any specific information they simply point to the notice board, refusing to entertain any question,” complained Santosh Kamble, a student seeking admission into a bachelor’s course in engineering. Having observed the machinations of the agents, he added, “It has become very difficult for students like me who cannot afford to pay the grand sums being demanded by the touts. I fear, I will not get the caste certificate in time.”Another student, Shreekant Pawar, awaiting admission into a BSc stream in a regular college, needs the caste certificate to avail of facilities provided for the reserved categories. He is equally frustrated. “It appears that it would be better to accept being in the open category rather than go through the struggle I am being put to for the certificate. The centre lacks basic amenities such as drinking water or toilets and we have to wait in long queues. Worse, no official is willing to guide on alternatives available, if some documents can’t be furnished.Only people paying money to agents are entertained here. Commoners like us have to wait for months for the certificates,” he pointed out. Confronted with these irrefutable experiences,collector Naval Kishore Ram promised, “I will take stringent action against the people involved in such malpractice. The entire application and the caste and domicile certificates will be closely scrutinised.They are signed by the tehsildar and have to be in periodical order. The inward and outward dates of the applications received and certificates issued will be checked. This is a serious matter brought to my notice and calls for a detailed inquiry. The Setu CFCs were created to make theaccessible to the citizens.”