Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Tuesday inaugurated mobile governance application, Jharseva and other information technology-enabled services at Project Building to bring Government and governed closer to each other. On the occasion, Das emphasised on more use of IT in bridging the gap between Government and people.
As many as 54 services provided by the Government are now hooked up to IT after the launch. Das said, “The Government does not run by hackneyed slogans rather it is run by a corruption-free development, good governance, transparent and answerable administration. It is because of the efforts made for attaining these traits, a lot of changes have taken place in Jharkhand in the eight months' small duration."
The CM expressed that Jharkhand is transforming, evolving and due to the changes taking place as a result of change in work culture Jharkhand is being recognised by various associations, including World Bank, Confederation of Indian Industry and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The CM suggested that the efforts made by the State Government have brought people close to the Government of the day and technology has facilitated the change that manifests in the form of people's participation in governance.
Das added, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also focusing on the use of information technology. So, it is imperative to use mobile governance to narrow the gap between government and people".
Significantly, the CM stated that a mobile SMS van will be unveiled on November 15, i.e. foundation day of Jharkhand. Underscoring the facilities provided by mobile governance, Das said, Jharkhand has become the first state in the country where Aadhaar enabled monitoring system has come into effect and "it has made possible online monitoring of attendance of teachers and students of schools in remote areas, quantity of food grains provided and status of drop-out of students".
The Aadhaar enabled monitoring system will update parents about attendance of their children in school through SMS at the registered mobile number.
Das asserted that corruption can be stopped with the use of IT as it will eliminate middlemen between the Government and people. However, the assumption rests on the condition that the latest measure for better governance is used by public, he added.
The CM said, "As promised, the online monitoring system related to Right to Service Act has been rolled out in a short span of three months. Around 70 per cent of corruption can be stopped with the help of IT and it will reduce the role of middlemen automatically provided common man uses the services and help the government in eliminating middlemen".
Principal Secretary, Planning and Finance department, Amit Khare said entire nation is recognising the improved work culture of Jharkhand and the day is not far when the State will stand ahead of others if tasks are done with similar team work.
Secretary to CM and Secretary IT, Sunil Barnwal said mobile governance month will be observed from October-November 15 in the State and efforts will be made to bring all types of services provided by government on a single platform.
As many as 10 mobile applications will be developed with the help of NIC, JSAC and JAP-IT during the mobile month to facilitate inter-departmental coordination and monitoring of facilities for common man.
The launch event was attended by Principal Secretary RD, NN Sinha, Principal Secretary, Commercial Taxes, Nidhi Khare, Secretary, School Education and literacy, Aradhana Patnaik, Secretary, Building Construction, KK Soan, Secretary, Personnel, Ratan Kumar and other secretaries besides, officials of various Government departments.