The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has introduced e-Punarvasan, a digital platform designed to streamline rehabilitation and resettlement, with 94 eligible project-affected families from Garib Nagar in Bandra receiving possession letters through the new system.
Launched on October 1, the platform was presented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and MMRDA Commissioner Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee as a step towards making rehabilitation more transparent, structured and less reliant on manual processes and intermediaries.
The new system brings multiple stages of rehabilitation onto a single digital platform. These include ground surveys, electricity bill verification, Aadhaar-based OVSE verification, computerised lotteries, tenement allotments, possession letters and case monitoring.
MMRDA said the OVSE verification mechanism developed by the Unique Identification Authority of India allows Aadhaar-related information submitted by project-affected persons to be verified offline. The process is intended to establish beneficiary identities and connect them with their rehabilitation cases, while reducing the possibility of ineligible applicants receiving homes.
Earlier, rehabilitation records were largely maintained manually across separate Excel files. Survey agencies gathered information from project sites, while documents such as Aadhaar cards and electricity bills were checked individually. Socio-economic survey data was subsequently compiled in spreadsheets before joint verification and preparation of Annexure II.
Tenement availability was also tracked separately, making it harder to monitor individual cases and match eligible beneficiaries with vacant homes. Under e-Punarvasan, a Computerised Tenement Allotment Cell will consolidate these processes.
The platform will also feature management information system reports and a dashboard showing allotment progress, case status and the rehabilitation stage reached by each project-affected person.
Chief Minister Fadnavis said the system would reduce human intervention and improve transparency, while Dr. Mukherjee emphasised that rehabilitation must extend beyond simply allotting a home and ensure eligible families receive their entitlements through a fair, transparent and dignified process.
MMRDA plans to digitise existing records and use e-Punarvasan for future surveys, verification, allotment and possession procedures.
Source: Urban Acres
