In a significant stride towards e-governance, the Kerala government has extended its flagship digital platform, K-SMART (Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation), to all rural local bodies, making a wide range of public services accessible online to citizens across the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the state-wide rural expansion of the platform in Thiruvananthapuram, emphasizing that “governance becomes meaningful only when everyone gets to experience its benefits.” He called K-SMART a transformative initiative aimed at ensuring inclusive and transparent administration.

The platform, previously successful in urban local bodies, now covers all 941 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, and 14 district panchayats. Citizens can now access services like birth, death, and marriage registrations, building permits, property tax payments, grievance redressal, and business licensing via a mobile app or website—without visiting government offices.

Local Self Government Minister MB Rajesh hailed K-SMART as a “technological leap,” stating, “The phrase ‘running around offices wearing out your sandals’ will soon be a thing of the past.” He added that the platform would enhance efficiency, reduce red tape, and curb corruption.

Developed in-house by the Information Kerala Mission (IKM), the platform has already proven its effectiveness in urban settings—processing over 35 lakh files digitally between January 2024 and March 2025, with 76% resolved swiftly, some within minutes. A birth certificate was issued in just 6.45 minutes, while marriage certificates were granted through India’s first video KYC facility.

New features include:

• ‘Know Your Land’: Offers zoning data for proposed constructions.
• ‘My Building’: Provides comprehensive property information.
• Mass Petition Filing: Citizens can now submit collective grievances online.
• Special Marriage Act Registration: Available online globally.
• KEFT System: Enables e-bill submission and payments to contractors within an hour.

Santhosh Babu, Director of IKM, noted that 100 developers worked for two years to build K-SMART, overcoming challenges like digitizing old records. KP Noufal, Deputy Director, said the new version was shaped by public feedback and aims for peak transparency.

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The transition is being closely monitored by a rapid response team to ensure a smooth rollout and resolve early technical challenges.

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