CS pushes WhatsApp-based service delivery
SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, Friday held a meeting of all the concerned Administrative Secretaries to assess Jammu and Kashmir’s performance on the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) and reviewed the progress made by the Information Technology Department towards expanding the digital governance ecosystem across the Union Territory.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary launched 162 district-level online citizen services, developed by the Information Technology Department, which have now been integrated with the eUNNAT Portal, taking the total number of online Government-to-Citizen (G2C) services available on the platform from 1,548 to 1,710.
The newly added services, developed for 18 districts of the Union Territory, encompass a wide range of regulatory permissions and public services, including permissions for fairs and exhibitions, cultural programmes, political and religious gatherings, processions, drone operations and several other district-level services.
These services are now available through a completely digital, paperless and workflow-based platform, enabling citizens to apply online, monitor the status of their applications and receive digitally signed approvals without visiting Government offices.
Emphasising continuous improvement, the Chief Secretary directed all Administrative Departments to ensure timely compliance with all mandatory NeSDA parameters and work in close coordination with the Information Technology Department for digitisation of additional public services.
The Chief Secretary also directed the Information Technology Department to work in close coordination with the Law Department to undertake a comprehensive review of all online citizen services with a view to identifying those that have become redundant or obsolete in view of subsequent policy and legislative reforms.
He observed that, under the Government’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and Reducing Compliance Burden (RCB) initiatives, several certificates, permissions and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) had already been abolished. Such services, he said, should no longer remain active on digital platforms, as their continued availability may lead to avoidable inconvenience for citizens.
Dulloo further maintained that the objective of digital governance is not merely to place services online but also to simplify governance by eliminating outdated and unnecessary compliances. He remarked that citizens, in no way, should be compelled to apply for certificates or permissions that are no longer required under the prevailing policy framework.
He advised that such services be appropriately categorised as ‘No Longer Required’ on the eUNNAT Portal after due legal validation. He expressed that our objective is not merely to improve rankings but to build an ecosystem where digital governance must translate into better governance at the grassroots level.
Emphasising greater accessibility and inclusive service delivery, the Chief Secretary further instructed the IT Department to identify at least 100 high-volume citizen services for integration with WhatsApp and the Single Sign-On (SSO) platform. He said that priority should be accorded to services frequently availed by farmers, tribal communities, women, children and other vulnerable sections to make Government services more accessible through widely used digital channels.
He further called for the integration of emerging digital public assets, including AgriStack-enabled digital land records and SVAMITVA Property Cards, as and when these are operationalised by the concerned departments, observing that the eUNNAT platform should continuously evolve into a comprehensive, future-ready digital service delivery ecosystem.
Speaking during the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Shailendra Kumar, stressed that the success of digital governance should be measured by the tangible value it creates for citizens rather than by the number of services hosted on a portal.
The emphasis should be on meaningful, high-impact and frequently used services. Addition of services, by itself, does not constitute progress unless those services genuinely address citizens’ needs and improve their experience of public service delivery, he observed.
On this occasion the Commissioner Secretary, IT, Saurabh Bhagat revealed that under the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) the latest expansion of digital services has enabled Jammu and Kashmir to attain the 3rd position nationally, reflecting the sustained progress made in digital governance.
The Commissioner Secretary also apprised that 159 services developed by BISAG across various departments, including JK e-SEHAT, JK Samadhan, JKCIP, HADP and the Public Works Department. These services have already been integrated with the eUNNAT platform, further expanding the scope of online public service delivery, he added.
Moreover it was highlighted that nine additional services have successfully been developed and are presently undergoing User Acceptance Testing, while five additional services relating to the Revenue Department, Housing & Urban Development Department and Gulmarg Development Authority are under development and are expected to be operational shortly. Their integration will increase the total number of online services on the eUNNAT Portal to 1,724.
The roadmap to leverage emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, multilingual interfaces, WhatsApp-based service delivery, Single Sign-On, Face Authentication, Aadhaar-enabled authentication and e-Sign solutions, to further simplify access to Government services and improve the overall citizen experience also cameup for deliberations.
The meeting concluded with a review of the NeSDA-2026, with directions to all concerned departments to expedite digitisation of high-volume citizen services, strengthen compliance with national assessment parameters and sustain Jammu and Kashmir’s leadership in digital governance.
