JAMMU, JANUARY 31: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today remarked that after successfully digitizing all the services, focus should be laid on timely delivery of services and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in managing the affairs of government departments. Dr Mehta was speaking in the 14th Board of Governors (BoG) meeting of the Jammu & Kashmir e-Governance Agency (JaKeGA) attended by other members including Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce; Commissioner Secretary , IT; Secretary, PD&MD; Secretary, GAD; DG, Codes; SIO, NIC besides other concerned officers. The Chief Secretary stressed on moving towards use of AI/ML and IoT based technologies for better coordination and monitoring purposes. He maintained that technology is panacea for many of the problems. It is also the most effective tool for ensuring transparency. He impressed upon the officers and scientists from IT and NIC respectively to work towards use of modern technologies towards obtaining desired results especially for the purposes of work estimation and their identification. Dr Mehta directed for making good use of technologies by bridging the gap between the government and those governed. He made out that the power belongs to people and technology has empowered them in unprecedented manner. He told the officers to have virtual inspections of the offices and works on daily basis. He even suggested for taking feedback from public and PRI’s about the quality of work being done in their areas or any grievances they have against any of the government departments. The Chief Secretary also emphasized upon end to end use of digital platforms like e-office by all the government employees especially ground workers like Patwaris, JEs etc. He declared that the actual purpose of digitization would be served when it enhances ease of living. He asked for making the work of every office be it Police Stations, Tehsil Offices, Hospitals, Engineering Departments, ULBs, Block Offices fully online for efficient delivery and effective monitoring. The Commissioner Secretary, IT, PrernaPuri gave a detailed presentation on the decisions taken during the 13th BoG meeting. She also detailed out the agenda for the meeting with a proposal for revamping the agency on more professional lines that would make the working of the J&K e-Governance agency more outcome oriented as per the requirements of present times. It was revealed that in the previous meeting the decisions like establishment of 1012 ICT labs in schools, digitisation of office records, rolling out of National Generic Document Registration System, procurement of infrastructure for Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme and upgradation of State Data Centre was achieved as per the respective proposals. Later on the Chief Secretary also launched the State Wide Area Network (SWAN) coverage for 168 blocks of the UT. He advised giving access to the 10 most vital offices at district level and 5 such offices at block levels for their easy access to safer network. It was given out that the SWAN would provide the unhindered access to internet to these blocks even during internet shutdowns and aid them in working more efficiently without having need to rely on private service providers.
