Last week, Jammu and Kashmir surpassed all states and UTs in having more services available to the public.
As per government, 1016 citizen-centric services are now available online. Of late the administration has reiterated commitment of providing convenient and accessible services to the people, ushering in a new era of digital governance.
Under the Digital J&K programme launched in “mission mode” last year, the number of online services has increased exponentially from 174 services in July, 2022 to 1016 services as on date with nearly 500 percent increase in just one year, the government said.
“The remarkable digital journey of J&K and the resultant transformation from a laggard status in e-governance to a leading position in such a short span of time was unprecedented.”
According to J&K’s Chief Secretary, J&K has made remarkable progress in ensuring transparency and accountability, and there is need to institutionalize it so that it becomes intrinsic to the system.
Implementation of measures like BEAMS, e-tendering, seeking of Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction surely resulted in establishing financial discipline. The IT interventions have brought about more transparency where all details of projects and services are being put in public domain. Through RTI and Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA), citizens who seek their rights have been empowered, as guaranteed under law, the top civil officer said.
Preventing corruption, promoting transparency and strengthening institutions remains crucial if the targets foreseen to make J&K prosperous on fronts are met.
The government needs to continuously send a message to the officials and officers that corruption won’t be tolerated. Higher offices must be kept under check also.
Beyond doubt, corruption eats into the innards of a nation and is a debilitating social cancer which spares no one. There are numerous reasons, some of them well documented, as to why corruption flourishes. However, failure by some key institutions particularly the police and judiciary to bring to a close case plays an important part.
There are timelines provided in law for the presentation of the charge sheet, otherwise, an accused is entitled to default bail. Any delay by the Investigating Agency in not completing investigation of the cases registered is seriously impacting the justice delivery system as the guilty are not being brought to court for trial even after decades of registration of cases against them, thus observed by J&K’s top court.
While reasons for the delay could be plenty, the administration should ensure the monitoring system for investigations in the FIRs and that there is success in trap cases.
