SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Saturday said that through 675 online services, the IT Department brought efficiency to the functioning of the government coupled with accountability and transparency.
Speaking on the occasion of ‘Corruption Free J&K Day’ Chief Secretary highlighted the role of IT tools in weeding out corruption. He maintained that technology is the greatest enabler in creating an era of efficiency, fairness and equity for all.
While enumerating the advantages, he made out that the introduction of initiatives like BEAMS, Janbhagadari, Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani (AZAN), e-tendering and e-office has transformed the administration into more responsive, accessible and transparent system and has empowered the citizens of J&K by bringing in accountability and openness.
On the Occasion the Principal Secretary, IT, Prerna Puri informed him about all the initiatives the Department has taken to make the system more responsive and bring governance at the doorsteps of the people.
She revealed that from 35 online services in 2019 the number has reached to 675 currently. She made out that the feedback from the public on Rapid Assessment System (RAS) is quite encouraging as 86% of it is positive. She also gave out that nearly 40 lakh messages have been sent to the public to give their feedback and more than one crore visits have been made to date to the AZAN portal providing insights about the people’s land records.
Chief Secretary launched the new version of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations produced youth-oriented Online program ‘Beats of J&K 2.0’. The program aims at encouraging and facilitation of the local artists of Jammu and Kashmir to showcase their talent providing them a platform to grow and make a mark in their chosen fields of their musical interest.
The Chief Secretary went on to elucidate that the financial discipline brought in by BEAMS has ensured that no work which does meet the criteria of e-tendering, Administrative Approval, Technology Sanction, and photographic evidence can be paid which has accelerated the completion of projects by 10 times. BEAMS has been the engine of change in J&K, drastically reducing arbitrariness and corruption. He mentioned that the cost of projects has reduced significantly due to competitiveness.
He stated that earlier contractors were moving from pillar to post to get their payments released. Now the process has been made hassle-free and they are able to see releases without running after officials.
He made out that the efficiency and timely disposal of official business has well been ensured by the introduction of the e-Office in the UT. He said that this IT tool has brought in greater transparency in government functioning as the movement of each file can be tracked with time-series data analysis.
The Chief Secretary observed that the system in J&K is transparent and efficient as never before. He made out that before 2019 there were hardly any G2C services offered online and now the number has galloped to 675 in a matter of less than two years.
He mentioned that in terms of the number of projects completed the UT has made phenomenal progress. He stated that earlier the number used to hover around 9000 which has grown to over 925000 works for the previous financial year. He noted that E-Compendiums of these works are made public and there is no complaint from public about any of these works.
