Why in news:

• In order to improve the quality of service delivery in the state as well as strengthen the deployment of IT personnel in the government, the Government of Punjab has decided to bring a greater number of citizen services on its online platform.

Key Points:

• In this regard, the decision was taken during the 38th meeting of the Executive Committee of Punjab State eGovernance Society (PSeGS) held under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Punjab.
• As per the mandate given by the Chief Minister, Punjab State eGovernance Society has been tasked with bringing major reforms in service delivery and will cover all the services notified under Punjab Transparency and Accountability Act.
• It is important to note here that presently, 430 services are being delivered from Sewa Kendras and 93 services are being delivered online from Connect portal. It was decided in the meeting that more services must be brought on the online portal as well as citizens should get their certificates on WhatsApp and using WhatsApp Chabot, citizens will be able to check their status and will be able to get more information on WhatsApp only.
• As a step in this direction, the Chief Secretary directed the Punjab State eGovernance Society to hire a third party agency for a performance audit and social impact of Sewa Kendras covering all aspects and stakeholders. The Society would also engage the services of 324 IT personnel to be deployed across different departments of the government for which Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, would soon initiate the selection process.
• The Executive Committee also decided to engage the services of a consultant on an outsourcing basis for bringing reforms in Government processes for the ease of citizens as well as to work on the reduction of compliance burden in line with directions given by the Government of India.