Andhra Pradesh Government on Thursday launched, ‘Mana Mitra’, a new service to offer governance in the hands of the people, in association with Meta.
As part of the initiative launched by Nara Lokesh, Minister for IT, 161 civil services will be delivered to the citizens through WhatsApp.
The State government has allotted an official WhatsApp number, 9552300009, to access the services under the initiative.
Speaking on the occasion, Lokesh said, “These days at the press of a button we are watching a movie, food is delivered and a cab comes. The question arose as to why the government does not come to the people. That is why WhatsApp Governance is being launched with the slogan ‘Mana Mitra’, government in the hands of the people.’‘
Every house has a smartphone in their pocket and 60 per cent of the State population have access to it, the government had discussed with Meta and offered the service, the Minister said.
As part of it, 36 departments will now be connected to WhatsApp Governance, he said, adding, “This is a very complicated task. In the first phase, we are making 161 civil services available. In the second phase, we will start 360 civil services. WhatsApp Governance is the bridge between the government and the people.’‘
The services, including govt certificates are provided in the real time and with a special QR code. If the applicants scan the QR code, it will connect them to to the AP government website and thereby eliminates the problem of fake certificates.
“We have also decided to bring blockchain technology soon. Now, we have brought many services along with revenue, municipal, and endowment services through number selection. In the second phase, we will also implement it through AI bot and voice,’‘ Lokesh said.