Chennai: Want to start a hotel, open a hostel, or just get a passport as a govt employee? You no longer have to run across departments. The Tamil Nadu govt has launched SimpleGov — a digitised, self-declaration-based system to issue key certificates and NOCs in a day, skipping months of red tape.The initial rollout covers ten services — including sanitation certificates, public building licences, registration for old age homes, hostels for working women and women’s homes, solvency certificates, white category industries list, NOCs for converting wetlands to non-agricultural use, good conduct certificates, and NOCs for govt staff applying for passports. The services were launched by Chief Minister M K Stalin, and the govt plans to add 150 services to this soon.Until now, several of these services required physical documents, in-person inspections, and long processing times — often stretching from several weeks to more than a year. With SimpleGov, most services will be delivered within a day, using digital KYC, QR codes, automated workflows, and self-declaration forms. PWC Davidar, advisor, SimpleGov, said one of the most important reforms was NOCs for govt employees applying for passports. “The Secretariat clears about 500 passport NOCs for officials every week, the highest being from the school education department. We’ve now amended procedures so officials just need to upload a prior intimation letter on the IFHRMS portal. They can proceed with their passport applications without a formal NOC,” he said. Getting sanitation certificates — a key requirement for businesses such as hotels and resorts — has also been made simpler. “Earlier, paperwork for these certificates crossed at least 30 tables without any value addition and took a month. Now, applicants can upload a self-declaration on cleanliness, working toilets, and no mosquito breeding on the e-governance portal. They will get an automated certificate immediately. But there will be provisions for public health officials to inspect at any time,” Davidar said. Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) director M Govinda Rao said that SimpleGov services have been integrated into both departmental portals and the TNeGA platform. “It’s being improved regularly,” he said. A high-level committee will monitor the rollout.