Srinagar, Sep 29 (NVI) Jammu and Kashmir is set to offer 100 frequently accessed government services through WhatsApp as part of an initiative to make public service delivery more accessible and reduce the need for physical visits to government offices, officials said on Tuesday.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo reviewed the preparedness of the Information Technology Department for the early rollout of an AI-powered conversational messaging platform that will enable citizens to access government services through WhatsApp, an official statement said.
The platform will allow users to apply for services, track applications, submit documents, make payments and receive official communications without downloading separate applications or navigating multiple government portals.
The first phase will cover 100 high-footfall services from various departments, including issuance of income, domicile, caste, EWS and RBA certificates and access to land records such as Fard, Girdawari, Jamabandi and Mutation.
Services related to driving licences, vehicle ownership transfers, e-challans and fancy vehicle number e-auctions are also proposed to be integrated.
The platform will also provide access to birth and death certificates, commercial establishment NOCs, building permissions, social welfare schemes, scholarships, electricity and water bill payments, ration card modifications, agricultural schemes, JKSSB registrations and pilgrimage-related services, the statement said.
The proposed Multi-Channel Conversational Messaging API Solution will use generative artificial intelligence to provide an integrated and multilingual interface in Urdu, Hindi and English.
Dulloo directed the IT Department to coordinate with line departments to expedite backend integration and ensure seamless delivery of services.
He also called for performance benchmarking, user acceptance testing and adequate training of government employees before the rollout.
The chief secretary said the initiative should simplify government-citizen interactions, reduce procedural complexities and particularly benefit people in rural and remote areas, including those with low-bandwidth internet connectivity.
Commissioner Secretary, IT, Saurabh Bhagat said Jammu and Kashmir currently offers 1,710 e-services through digital platforms such as e-UNNAT, ServicePlus and Revenue Plus.
The proposed platform will have a one-time registration and single sign-on mechanism, along with a unified citizen database for integration with the Family ID system.
Other features include AI-assisted conversational interfaces, optical character recognition-based document processing, secure payment gateway integration and automated grievance escalation.
A dedicated system integrator has already been onboarded through the National e-Governance Division empanelment framework for implementation of the project.
JK SAMADHAN 2.0, the government’s public grievance redressal platform, has been selected as the first service for integration, and a functional multilingual demonstration has already been developed, officials said.
The meeting was attended by senior officers of the IT Department, administrative departments, deputy commissioners, the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the National Informatics Centre.—(NVI)
