Newly-elected Umreth MLA Harshad Parmar takes oath as Gujarat Assembly member

A release said that Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was present during Parmar's oath-taking ceremony.

Chief Whip of the Legislative Assembly Balkrishna Shukla, Minister for Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Rushikesh Patel, and other members of the State Council of Ministers and MLAs were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the state has taken an important step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Nagrik Devo Bhava" by advancing from One Day Governance to WhatsApp Governance, a release said.

Towards this objective, an MoU was signed in Gandhinagar between the State Government and Meta Platforms Inc, in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Under the guidance of the Chief Minister, the state government, in accordance with the recommendations of the GARC, has made approximately 20 citizen-centric services from five major departments available via a WhatsApp chatbot through the Sugam Digital Gujarat Initiatives.

The MoU between Meta and the State Government will play an important role in making these services simpler and faster for citizens while also ensuring last-mile delivery, a release said.

Accordingly, through a WhatsApp-based chatbot available in English and Gujarati, citizens across the state will soon be able to avail nearly 20 important services directly on their phones from home through a single WhatsApp number.

Also, citizens will be freed in the coming days from navigating multiple web portals or standing in queues at government offices for such services.

The services that will be made available by the State Government on WhatsApp include important facilities such as grievance redressal assistance, income, caste and EWS certificates, ration card updates, revenue records and official affidavits. (ANI)