Union Cabinet Secretary Calls for Strengthened Digital Governance Systems Across States

Hyderabad: Union Cabinet Secretary Dr T. V. Somanathan has called upon state chief secretaries to reinforce their Simple e-governance infrastructure in order to deliver more streamlined and effective public services through digital channels.

Speaking during a video conference held on Monday, Somanathan recommended that states examine the simplegov e-governance framework currently being rolled out by the Tamil Nadu government. He indicated that states could implement comparable platforms tailored to their own regulatory frameworks and administrative structures.

The Cabinet Secretary underscored the importance of channelling government services through digital platforms in ways that are both simpler and more responsive to citizen needs.

During the meeting, Telangana's Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao presented an overview of the digital governance programmes his state has been executing. He highlighted how the state has been leveraging digital systems to ensure that citizen services are transparent and streamlined. He further noted that the state employs online dashboards as regular monitoring tools to track and communicate the performance metrics of various departments.

Ramakrishna Rao detailed the range of services being delivered via e-governance channels across multiple departments, including municipal administration, industries, education, energy and revenue.

Recognising Telangana's contributions to digital governance, the Cabinet Secretary lauded the state's efforts and acknowledged Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao's role in establishing these systems.

Sources indicated that Telangana intends to conduct a comprehensive review of the Tamil Nadu model. The state has signalled its intention to implement refinements to its e-governance systems in a manner that avoids creating financial strain or inconvenience for the public.

The video conference was attended by Special Chief Secretary Naveen Mittal, Principal Secretaries Yogita Rana and Shikha Goel, Secretaries Raghunandan Rao, E. Sridhar and Anita Ramachandran. Housing Managing Director V. P. Gautam, SERP CEO Divya and other senior officials also joined the proceedings.