IT Minister Nara Lokesh has described ‘Mana Mitra’ WhatsApp Governance as a game-changer for citizen services. Speaking during a short discussion in the Assembly on WhatsApp Governance,he recalled that NTR had taken the government closer to the people by transforming the Patwari system, and Chandrababu Naidu had taken governance closer to the people by transforming civil services into e-services.
He said that he strongly believes in the concept of visible governance, invisible government. Lokesh revealed that for this, instead of another app, they thought of using WhatsApp, which is used by everyone. “Presently, we are able to provide 200 civil services through WhatsApp. We are providing these in the name of Mana Mitra. We also plan to provide services through voice with the help of AI”, he said.
“WhatsApp governance services will be available for revenue certificates and payment of property taxes. We have set a target to provide 300 civic services by the end of this month. Why should people go around revenue offices every six months? We also want to amend some laws for this. We are going to issue these certificates with the help of QR code,” Lokesh added.
Lokesh said that steps are being taken to provide WhatsApp governance services through AI chat bot. He said that there is currently a discussion on language across the country. He said that there are people who speak many languages in AP and all of them will receive these services in their respective languages.
On the other hand, Lokesh explained that out of the 1.5 crore transactions provided to citizens by the government, WhatsApp governance services account for 51 lakh. He clarified that their goal is to provide services to citizens in just 10 seconds. He assured that the information related to the people will also be completely secure.
He said that there will be no compromise on cyber security under any circumstances and personal data will not be shared with anyone anywhere. Lokesh said that only fully encrypted data will go directly to the users.
Lokesh said that if people want, they can get government services through WhatsApp Governance or Mee Seva. He said that once a certificate is issued through QR code, it is as if it has been given permanently. He said that it has been decided to link grain procurement with WhatsApp Governance.
