Government services can now be secured from within the comfort of homes. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday inaugurated the 'e-sevanam', Kerala's official service portal, and m-sevanam' app, a specially-designed app for citizens to access government services through mobile.
Applications for 509 services, related to 58 government departments, can now be submitted online. Instead of visiting every government office for different kinds of services, citizens have been provided a single-stop destination for all government services: https://services.kerala.gov.in.
In addition, the differently-abled, senior citizens and those facing various difficulties will get the services delivered right at their doorstep.
"This is just the first phase. Gradually, we want the doorstep delivery of services to be extended to all citizens," the Chief Minister said while inaugurating the official Kerala Service Portal.
The inauguration has come a day ahead of the deadline. On May 20, after the first Cabinet meeting of the second Pinarayi Vijayan ministry, the Chief Minister gave a roadmap for the implementation of six major promises in the LDF manifesto. Of these, 'government services at the doorstep' alone was given a deadline: October 2, Gandhi Jayanti day.
"We had given instructions that the services portal should be ready before the deadline," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. "It is important to bring in transparency in the delivery of government services," he said.
Here are some of the major services that have been taken online. Business (81 services related to mainly the starting of new business can be found online), citizens (227 services mostly related to various kinds of certificates, registration, permits licences and approvals from land revenue, excise, registration, civil supplies, motor vehicles, police and Kerala Water Authority), social security (4 services related to pension), farmers (27 services related to purchase of machinery, insurance and financial assistance), students (60 services related mostly to scholarships, stipends, grants and mark lists), and women and children (five services that include scholarships and financial support).
Then, there are eight bill payment services related to the public utilities KSEB and KWA. For the youth, five major services related to employment registration will now be available online. Besides, there will be 93 miscellaneous services that cover various government departments.
In all, 509 government services will be available online. Instead of people coming to the government, the government should reach the people," the Chief Minister said, giving the rationale for the online service delivery.