Gandhinagar, May 25 (IANS) The Gujarat government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Meta to introduce WhatsApp-based delivery of government services, with officials describing it as a step towards expanding citizen-centric digital governance across the state.
The agreement was signed in Gandhinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and is aimed at allowing citizens to access a range of government services through a single WhatsApp number in Gujarati and English.
According to the state government, around 20 citizen-centric services linked to nearly five major departments will initially be integrated into the platform through a WhatsApp chatbot.
The services are expected to include grievance redressal assistance, income certificates, caste certificates, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates, ration card updates, revenue records and official affidavits.
“The initiative was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Nagrik Devo Bhava’ and Gujarat’s efforts to move from ‘One Day Governance’ towards ‘WhatsApp Governance’,” officials said.
The officials further noted that citizens across both rural and urban areas would, in the coming period, be able to access services from their homes using mobile phones instead of visiting government offices or navigating multiple online portals.
They added that the initiative was intended to improve the last-mile delivery of public services and make the process faster and simpler.
“The platform would also strengthen real-time tracking of applications and services. More government services are expected to be added to the WhatsApp-based system in phases in the future,” officials said.
The initiative followed recommendations made by the Gujarat Administrative Reforms Commission (GARC) and was part of ongoing efforts under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to expand digital governance in the state.
“The biggest benefit of these new WhatsApp governance-based citizen-centric services will go to the common people. Government services will become easier, services will be available on mobile phones in just a few clicks, both time and cost will be saved, and transparency and accountability will become stronger,” officials emphasised.
Referring to Gujarat’s earlier digital governance initiatives, officials said that services had already been made available through Jan Seva Kendras in urban areas and Village Computer Entrepreneur (VCE)-based systems in rural areas.
“Lakhs of citizens had been receiving government services through those arrangements in a transparent and simplified manner,” the state government said.
The government added that the new collaboration with Meta would support the next phase of citizen-centric governance by enabling end-to-end digital service delivery, including the process from application submission to issuance of certificates through mobile devices.
The MoU was signed between Harit Shukla, Secretary of the Training and Administrative Reforms Division of the General Administration Department, and Aman Jain, Director and Head of Policies, along with A. Srinivas, Country Director at Meta.
–IANS
mys/uk