Govt wants mobile apps for all public services

Citizens using public services in India may soon never have to visit an office again if the PMO approves a proposal by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to create mobile apps for all public services, reports The Economic Times.

The DARPG submitted a report to this effect last week, after consulting NASSCOM and KPMG. If approved, the move would not only make accessing and using public services easier and more convenient for everyone, but also improve India's ranking of 119 out of 193 countries in the UN E-Government Index, said DARPG secretary Devendra Chaudhary in the report.

"In order to achieve the vision of Digital India and ensure the delivery of government services to citizens, the mobile platform needs to be leveraged to its full potential," said JS Deepak, secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, in the foreword of the report. Deepak was made telecom secretary on Friday. "Multi-lingual mobile-governance services are important for service delivery. Aadhaar-linked, mobile-based authentication mechanism needs to be developed to become a widely-used channel for citizen authentication," Deepak said.