At the start of 2015, Maharashtra Government had announced that Right to Services (RTS) will go online, and it was in October same year that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the Right to Services. The move put the State ahead of the rest to have RTS online — a decisive step towards greater transparency and commitment to citizens by making state bureaucracy accountable. An yearender by Rachita Jha of Elets News Network (ENN)
Aprogressive state is benchmarked by the speed and sync of words into action by the government of the day. Maharashtra has taken a lead in governance foresight and citizen services delivery by announcing people-friendly schemes that ride on the back of technology. When it comes to citizen services, the power of eGovernance as an equaliser is immense, especially in a state that is divided into districts, each with a unique set of geographical and social challenges. The year 2015 turned out to be one of building bridges of citizengovernment connect in the State.
The year began with the launch of ‘Aaple Sarkar’ (our government) on January 26, 2015 aimed to virtually link every citizen in the State with the government. The portal is a singlewindow interaction channel for citizens to avail all the online services offered by Maharashtra Government. A combination of mobile app and web portal makes citizens’ grievances, redressal, suggestions and feedbacks instant and effective, and encourages participative governance.
In the beginning of last year, it was announced that right to services will also go online, and it was in October 2015, on the eve of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the Right to Services (RTS) online. This made Maharashtra the first state in the entire country to have RTS online. This was a milestone in its attempt to bring transparency and commitment to citizens by making state bureaucracy accountable.
The year began with the launch of ‘Aaple Sarkar’ (our government) on January 26, 2015 aimed to virtually link every citizen in the State with the government. The portal is a single-window interaction channel for citizens to avail all the online services offered by Maharashtra Government. A combination of mobile app and web portal makes citizens’ grievances, redressal, suggestions and feedbacks instant and effective, and encourages participative governance
We, at Elets, have been a witness to the trailblazing efforts of the young and dynamic Chief Minister in the State. We celebrated the financial inclusion and empowerment initiatives at our flagship “BFSI Leadership Summit”, in partnership with Department of Planning, in February 2015 that had stalwarts of the banking and finance sector share their experiences and best practices.
Again, Mumbai was the unanimous choice of destination to host the largest eGovernance event “eIndia 2015”, so as to showcase the good governance and smart cities vision of the State in alliance with the Department of Information Technology. The mega conference and exhibition brought together industry leaders and senior government officials from different state departments to witness the revolution in Maharashtra and share their best practices.
A tech-savvy Chief Minister, an innovative corporate-government alliance MahaOnline and a pro-active Directorate of Information Technology have been the cornerstones of the success of eGovernance in Maharashtra. Elets will continue to showcase the thought-leadership and stepping stones in good governance in the State as we enter a new year.