E Pass in COVID19 Lockdown

E-Pass Issued under COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 virus has wreaked havoc in social as well as economic corridors across nations and has left many questioning the stringent measures introduced by the governments to curb the transmission. One such measure is the nation wide lock down in India which has already been extended till May 3rd 2020 and may even be extended further.

The lockdown has also seen restriction in movement of several employees, business persons, government officials and vendors  working in Essential Services(recognized under ESMA Act). In order to help people, who are engaged in providing Essential Services, overcome these restrictions and move to their place of work; government in various states in India have come up with a unique E-Pass service.

E-Pass is a digital initiative pioneered by state governments in India in an attempt to ease the maneuverability of Essential services workers during lockdown. The E-pass platform as the name suggests generates an Electronic pass based on color coding to differentiate between different class of workers. The Electronic Pass portal follows the following processes for generating an E-Pass as illustrated below :-

1.Login to the portal https://serviceonline.gov.in/  and in the top left corner select the state for which you need the E-Pass.

2.After selecting the state go to the Newly Launched Services subsection and Select E-Pass option.

3.A new window appears which displays information regarding the documents required for issuing E-pass and the application form tab to be filled seperately.

4.Having gone through the information screen the user needs to fill the application form which is divided into four subsections i.e. Applicant Details, Address of the Applicant, Pass Details and Members Travelling. The form ends with a self declaration which needs to be selected and submitted. 

5.After submitting the E-Pass application form details are authenticated and verified by the ServicePlus portal and the details are fetched for submission online.

6.The E-Pass is issued on the basis of availability and the color coding is done as per the nature of service selected in the application form.

The E-Pass initiative is limited to certain states and is not available throughout India. Although looking at the successful response the initiative has garnered, it is quite evident that very soon E-Pass will become operational in almost all the states. The E-Pass portal has two major advantages which makes it extremely useful during the current lockdown scenario, they are:-

• The digital platform is easy to access and free from contagion.
• The involvement of middle men and the administration in distributing such passes is reduced.

The E-Pass during COVID-19 Lockdown will be in vogue very soon and be used in various other sectors like transport and public utility services. So, it is imperative for the citizen to be aware and educated about this digital and user friendly initiative of government. There is also a possibility of the E-Pass service to be integrated with the Arogya Setu App of the government which is a welcome step if and when it happens.