Shimla: Taking advantage of the high tele-density in Himachal Pradesh, the information technology department here opened another gateway of mobile phones for delivery of citizen services through SMS, enabling savings in paper, postage and time by providing instant information.
Launching the SMS gateway, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said, “delays in rendering services bred corruption and the government was committed for transparency.â€
He said that both e-governance and m-governance would reduced delays in informing citizens about the status of the service sought. “Be it water or electricity complaints, registration of vehicles or licenses, information about these services could be provided on the mobile phones of concerned person, he said.
The chief minister said that emphasis of providing e-services should be in rural areas, where mainly the people are concerned with land revenue matters. Linking the land revenue issues with the SMS gateway would help the farming community immensely, he said.
Earlier, BK Aggrawal, secretary IT, in his presentation demonstrated the usage and scope of the SMS gateway.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
Great Idea! Otherwise, all people keep roaming government offices for settling never ending objections/delays. I hope, it will be extended to all public offices. Congratulations to all people behind the scene. Himachal Pradesh Government has been doing slightly better than the rest of North Indian states in the ITC related applications.
All these steps may help in curtailing delay tactics of bureaucracy in the state. But this is not going to help much; unless time bound accountability is not fixed at each level of officialdom. Anyone may imagine the fate of a common man hanging in ordinary files, when certain bureaucrats even do not bother to implement the decisions of government and easily befool by justifying delays on one pretext or the other.
Taming the imperial outlook of some “highly complexed creatures”, is direly needed in the state. It is the only area where current regime is lacking and steps like these are like putting drops in ocean. Government in any democratic set up enjoys the highest privilege; otherwise, it will have to face the wrath of people for non performance.