PCMC leads e-governance survey; PMC ranks fourth 

In an e-governance survey of Maharashtra’s 27 Municipal Corporations, the websites of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) secured first and fourth place respectively according to Policy Research Organization (PRO), a Pune-based company.

The third iteration of the survey was carried out from November 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, looking at things like how accessible their websites, mobile applications and social media handles are to the general public.

The survey also examined factors like transparency, public website usability and online services provided to businesses and citizens.

The top four municipal corporations of Maharashtra in the survey are Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mumbai, Kolhapur, and Pune.

Pimpri-Chinchwad placed first with a score of 7.18 points. 

Pune received a score of 6.50, placing it in fourth place, while the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has been ranked highly for increased accessibility and transparency.

Neha Mahajan, Director at PRO, noted a steady yearly increase in e-governance standards and said that the PMC and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations’ top rankings can be linked to their funding allocation and the demand from citizens in the post-Covid era.

Mahajan further added that the proportion of people who would rather use e-services is rising daily, particularly in the wake of COVID-19. People are becoming aware that an increasing number of services are available online.

Mahajan went on to say that there is a significant increase in the significance of e-governance, which is driving municipal corporations to upgrade their infrastructure.

Regarding numerous other municipal corporations in the state, users continue to encounter technical difficulties when attempting to access their websites. Spelling mistakes, inaccurate contact details, and out-of-date information make it challenging to navigate and obtain essential information. It is harder to trust genuine websites without specific government-issued domain names like (.gov.in) or (.nic.in), which calls into question their credibility. Additionally, social media accounts connected to the official websites are not updated regularly.

Even though many companies have experienced remarkable growth, there is always space for improvement.

Following PCMC in the rankings were Amravati Municipal Corporation, Pune Municipal Corporation, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and Kolhapur Municipal Corporation.