STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Emphasizing the need to take effective measures providing last mile solution in digital services for the people, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday directed the stakeholders to formulate short-term goals of 3-6 months and long-term vision statements to transform core ICT infrastructure, governance and services for ease of living, accessibility, innovation to transform Jammu and Kashmir into digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
Inaugurating Digital Jammu & Kashmir week and launching several digital initiatives here at SKICC, the Lt Governor observed that ‘digitally empowered’ is a new yardstick to measure the present literacy rate.
“The programmes and initiatives launched today are part of the government’s efforts to bring ease, transparency and convenience in public service delivery, ” observed Sinha.
He also inaugurated Digi-Mela in districts which will generate awareness about digital solutions and new technologies.
The Lt Governor said that the Digital J&K week programme will showcase citizen centric IT initiatives that have helped in bringing about greater transparency in governance & ease of living for citizens.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor also launched ‘Digi Dost’ program aimed at developing a strong network of digitally empowered young volunteers at District, Block and Panchayat level who can work as the brand ambassadors for Digital J&K and Digital India to achieve maximum mobilization and awareness on digital services. ‘Digi Dost’ volunteers will also assist in digital service delivery, data collection, training, spreading information regarding Digital India campaign and make the people aware about cyber hygiene and cybercrimes.
He also asked the District Administrations to implement the goals of Digital J&K week in collaboration with civil society and PRIs.
Highlighting the digital reforms introduced to realize the vision of Digital J&K, the Lt Governor said that in the last two years, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dedicated efforts have been made to create an enabling environment for digital inclusion and promoting digital literacy to bridge the gap between government programs and citizens requirements.
J&K, through Innovation, Implementation and Inclusion is setting unprecedented benchmarks in digital initiatives and leading by example in Prime Minister’s Digital India campaign, the Lt Governor observed.
We are number one in the ranking of UTs in e-governance. Host of initiatives like E-office, BEAMS, Awam ki Awaaz, MyGov, e-Unnat, Digilocker, Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani have brought transparency & accountability in governance and made transformational changes in the lives of people, the Lt Governor said.
Our aim is to make all government services easily accessible to the people without human interface. Today, details of every penny spent in J&K are in the public domain. As many as 209 government services have been integrated with the Rapid Assessment System for real time feedback of citizens. Our recent assessment of citizens feedback shows 85% approval rating for the citizen centric services, added the Lt Governor.
Citing a recent report of the central government, the Lt Governor highlighted that J&K UT e-transactions clocked 22.48 crore since 1st January 2022. Digital Transactions crossed the 22 lakh mark last month from J&K Bank. J&K is among top three states/UTs with 52% score in Internet penetration. We are performing better than many states/UTs with 72% male & 43.3% women internet users, he further added.
The Lt Governor congratulated the Information Technology Department and people of J&K on the launch of Digital Jammu & Kashmir week to be observed from 25th-31st July.
J Satyanarayan, former Secretary Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY), while addressing the gathering virtually gave valuable insights for making J&K a top performer in the digital services system.
He laid emphasis on the data management policies and adopting Public Private Partnerships for digital transformation.
Sanjay Gaden, Principal Consultant (Head-SeMT)-NISG, on the occasion explained in detail the roadmap for achieving the goal of making the Union Territory a truly digitally empowered region. He laid down various ways and methods by which various digital services of the J&K Government could make the life of common people easy and prosperous.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K, also spoke on the occasion
Prerna Puri, Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Information Technology Department highlighted the goals of the Digital week and spoke about various e-initiatives implemented by the IT Department of J&K UT administration.
Abhishek Sharma, CEO JaKeGA, presented the vote of thanks.
Earlier, the Lt Governor flagged off Digi Yatra and inspected the stalls put up by various departments of UT administration for providing information and awareness on the digital services and their process being extended by them.
A video presentation displaying various digi-services & their benefits was also shown on the occasion.
The occasion also witnessed the release of an e-compendium of IT initiatives, besides the launching of Digilocker integration in domicile certificate and ‘Tagline & Logo ‘competition on MyGov by the Lt Governor.
Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor SMC; Aftab Malik, DDC Chairman Srinagar; R K Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department; Vivek Bhardwaj, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Administrative Secretaries; besides Deputy Commissioners, senior officials, and large number of people from across the UT were present on the occasion.
