Jammu Kashmir Administration announces that it will switch-over to e-Office functioning at the apex level from 7th March, 2022 and that it will not entertain physical files and hard copies of communications and documents from all departments under its control. The Secretaries/Commissioners are asked to direct all the heads of the departments down the line to strictly adhere to the new e-office regime.
If the new system works efficiently and successfully, it would be a landmark transformation in the old archaic functioning of the erstwhile Jammu Kashmir government.
Obviously, in Jammu and Kashmir known for its notorious government/administrative functioning, it is a tall order that if successful will provide great relief to the common man from the hegemony of Babudom.
Highlighting the features and benefits of digital services, the J&K Chief Secretary, AK Mehta said that this vital utility eliminates the scope of error and corruption in delivery of public services. These would automate a lot of mundane procedures and would eventually require less manual intervention.
According to him, at present there are 173 online services that are being provided to citizens of the region and directed the IT department and officers from JaKeGA to identify more services to be rolled out in the UT subsequently.
He also called for incorporation of a payment gateway for facilitating easy submission of fees and charges payable to the government for the specific service etc.
The Chief Secretary has further asked the JaKeGA to map out all public services and prepare detailed project reports for incorporating them on the ‘universal set of citizen services'. He further claimed that J&K has already taken the lead in introducing e-services in its functioning and now ranks second countrywide in implementation of e-Office.
He also asked for launching 50 critical services in mobile format within three months and exhorted upon the respective officers to gather people's feedback on their services through online as well offline mode.
On the face of it, these initiatives are of tremendous relief to the public and also to its employees for working in a new and seamless environment. It would surely enhance the productivity in the government functioning with an element of transparency.
The introduction of digital services would also help to eliminate all scope of corruption in the system. Quoting the Chief Secretary, “The society is passing through an era of rapid transformation and therefore needs to make the best use of the latest technologies to provide hassle-free, corruption free services to the public.”
Without reservations, let us all hope that these initiatives overshadow the old order in this region and the people to see the new vision of serving the genuine public interest.
