Andhra Pradesh government launches Whatsapp governance 'Mana Mitra' to provide civil services to people

The state government has allotted an official WhatsApp number for this.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Nara Lokesh said, "I have done a 3,132 km padayatra called the "Yuvagalam" padayatra. This idea started from the Yuvagalam padayatra. You will understand if you watch my speeches. These days at the press of a button, we are watching a movie, food is delivered, and a cab is coming. The question arose as to why the government does not come to the people. I said that day that I was accepting that challenge. That is why WhatsApp Governance is being launched with the slogan 'Mana Mitra', government in the hands of the people, governance in the hands of the people, ours is the people's government."

Lokesh further said that he got an opportunity during the padayatra to know the problems faced by the people.

"During my padayatra, I got an opportunity to know directly the problems faced by the people. From the time I got off the bus in the morning and started the padayatra until I got back on the bus, I was with the people, activists, and leaders. I listened to their problems. I met farmers, women, students, and people from caste backgrounds. They all asked the same thing. Why do we have to take the caste certificate so many times? Why do we have to go to the authorities again for the income certificate? Why can't we pay the power bill seamlessly? Why do we have to take the ticket only after boarding the bus? They asked me repeatedly whether we shouldn't take it in advance..." he said.

Further, he added that the flaws in the system should be corrected.

"During the last five years of rule, certificates were not issued. I thought that the flaws in the system should be corrected. It started with the idea that no one should have to worry about certificates. Every house has a smartphone in their pocket. 60% of people have a smartphone. They all install WhatsApp. I thought of working with WhatsApp during the Yuvagalam Padayatra. I met and spoke to Meta India Head Sandhya. Nowhere in the world have so many services been brought through a single platform. Not even in terms of government. They asked if you could do it. On October 22 last year, an agreement was signed with Meta in Delhi. That day, I accepted the challenge. It was said that we would launch it by December. We are launching it three months and 9 days after the MoU..." he further added.

Talking about the Whatsapp Governance system, he said that 36 departments would be connected and 161 civil services would be made available in the first phase.

"36 departments will have to be connected to WhatsApp Governance. 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 public government takes the responsibility of providing certificates in real-time. When certificates are provided, there will be a special QR code on them. If you scan that QR code, the link will go to the AP government website. With this, there will be no room for fake certificates," he said.

Furthermore, he added that blockchain technology would be brought soon and several other services had been brought through number selection.

"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. We are the first state in the world to implement WhatsApp governance. There is a need to improve this further. There is still a lot to learn. We will correct the shortcomings and make it even better. We are also taking information from all departments in real-time governance and codifying it. We will create a data lake and provide seamless services. Our team has worked tirelessly for the last three months. We have been testing for the last 15 days. I understand that we need to make more improvements. This is a journey. We will make it an ideal product in six months. We will make all the services available. Even if we keep the promise of the padayatra. People will see how much change will come in six months," he said.

Meta India Vice President and Head Sandhya Devanathan said, "It is a great pleasure to be among you today. "Mana Mitra" WhatsApp services are being launched. WhatsApp plays a prominent role in everyone's life. We will provide 161 civic services to everyone through our friends. We have created WhatsApp governance to make it easy for people to use. We have worked hard for WhatsApp governance services. We will make Mana Mitra even better together with the AP government."

WhatsApp Director and India Head Ravi Garg said, "We are working with many state governments across the country. However, there is no place where all types of services are provided on a single platform. We will further develop our Mitra WhatsApp Governance and make more services available."

Mr. Garg said that people can easily access civic services by typing "Hi". He said that currently 161 types of services are being made available.

Bhaskar Katamaneni, Secretary, IT, Electronics and Communication Department, RTGS CEO K. Dinesh and others participated in this program. (ANI)