In a move to further improve online citizen centric services, Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today launched Task Scheduler, designed to help officers manage and organise their tasks and addition of Auto Appeal System for 107 more services, further streamlining government-to-citizen services in addition to over 103 services integrated with the auto appeal system last month.
On the occasion the Commissioner Secretary, IT, Prerna Puri informed the Chief Secretary that out of 480 online services provided to citizens at present, 210 are onboard the Auto Appeal System, that ensures timely delivery of services with auto-escalation of applications in case of breach of timelines set under the J&K Public Services Gaurantee Act (PSGA).
While speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary directed for onboarding rest of the services as early as possible for making ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt Jammu and Kashmir’ a reality. Dr. Mehta appreciated the proactive role played by the IT department and its concerted efforts for improving accessibility and ease of use of online government services under the PSGA. He placed a strong emphasis on the need to generate awareness among the general public about the online services offered by the Jammu and Kashmir government. He instructed for creation of online tutorials to help citizens learn about it and take advantage of the various citizen-friendly services available online.
In addition, the Chief Secretary discussed potential ways to increase both the accessibility and availability of these services, with the goal of ensuring that they are available round the clock with minimal downtime. As part of the broader Digital J&K initiative, which aims at improving the lives of citizens in J&K through the use of digital technology, the Chief Secretary discussed several measures to publicise the government’s service delivery and performance. These measures include the use of digital billboards throughout the districts to promote awareness of the government’s efforts and achievements. Chief Secretary also discussed various other initiatives and online services that can be launched in the upcoming days for various citizen-friendly services and ensuring transparent governance. He took strong note of building violations and instructed officers to devise digital surveillance measures to curb the menace within three months.
Dr. Mehta discussed opportunities in the digital arena for implementing artificial intelligence-based technologies for further improvement in governance and increasing accountability of departments and their respective officers while ensuring transparency and efficiency in departments. He said that AI technologies can help identify poor-performing human resources and rationalise government resources in a scientific manner.
During the launch, the Chief Secretary called upon the IT Department to further improve online systems to facilitate accountability of officers and track inaction and failure on part of respective officers/officials. He also called for a campaign to sensitize all government officials about the online ‘Government to Citizen Services’ and their associated timelines. The Chief Secretary asked the department to ensure that the Auto Appeal System is publicised and a definite timeline is fixed for each of the 210 online citizen services for general awareness and understanding of all the stakeholders. The departments whose services have been given the auto appeal feature today includes Agriculture, Labour & Employment, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Revenue and Finance. The measures taken by the Jammu and Kashmir administration have ensured accountability and transparency to a great extent, thereby making Jammu and Kashmir a leader in the country, as remarked by the Chief Secretary. Those who were present during this event includes Principal Secretary, H&UDD; Commissioner JMC; CEO, JaKeGA; Scientists from NIC and other concerned officers.
