LUDHIANA: The Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC), for the third time in eight years, will soon be attempting to implement its much-touted project of installing unique identity (UID) plates at properties of all kinds in the city.
Under the UID plate project, the MC is aiming to create a database for properties in the city, be it residential, industrial or commercial. To achieve this, the MC had earlier conducted a survey of properties with the help of Punjab Remote Sensing Centre. As part of its third attempt, the MC is preparing a request for proposal (RFP) for the same project and is hoping to launch the new phase this year itself, said MC commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal. “Due to certain reasons, the previous project was suspended. Now, we are preparing an RFP for the project, after which tenders will be floated,” he said.
In earlier attempts, 35,000 plates were installed in the first phase in 2017 and 80,000 in the second in 2023. In the third phase, there are plans to map all remaining properties by drones. The first phase was launched in 2017, but failed due to poor public response. Under the project, residents are supposed to pay for the UID plate. In the second phase, the MC introduced UID plates featuring QR codes.
In this phase too, the project encountered issues due to a dispute between the firm exectuing the project and MC officials. The contractor stopped work after installing 80,000 plates, claiming the MC changed the agreement’s scope and demanded a drone survey for all properties. The city has 37 blocks, with an estimated 4.25 lakh properties. Officials expect this number to rise now.
The DC said the new phase of the project will be funded by the World Bank.
Why UID plates?
As the MC has assigned a UID number to each property for the payment of property tax, water supply, and sewerage dues, the idea behind these plates was to display that UID number outside each house for identification. In the previous project, a QR code was included on the UID plate, so that officials could check whether dues were paid or not with just a scan of that code. However, officials claimed that with each passing year, the number of properties was increasing, and the civic body was unable to continue with this project.
Despite the hitches encountered so far, the authorities should make sure that the ambitious project is completed this time. Once this is done, the numberplates will provide an easy way to verify the property’s ownership, its transfer and minimise the risk of fraud. It will also enable the owners to know the status of their bills and taxes at a click, reduce paper work and cut the time required to sell property.
