The launch of National Satellite Based Computer Network (NICNET) and consequently establishment of District Information Centre of NIC paved the way for computerisation of all district offices in the country. This journey from 1987 to 2015 saw many ups and downs which included computerisation of bank services in 1995 and simultaneous arrival of mobile services which afterwards changed the course of history as mobiles have changed the whole discourse of life, now in this age of apps even banks are within our mobiles just a click away for any transaction. But from 1997 till 2014 almost for seventeen years there was no major push to incorporate IT technology in Government offices. It was still running on old file system of getting things done in a manual way which took months together to move the things in right direction. But things changed drastically once present NDA Government took the oath of office. In 2015 Digital India initiative was launched and e-Governance has been the focus of delivering services at the door steps of last man standing in the row. India transformed digitally as once applied on Government portal things get resolved within assured time frame, there are no excuses of files missing or it didn’t reach the right person. In Jammu and Kashmir things move differently and till 2018 little efforts were made to put up a transparent system in place as vested interests ensured little or no progress on this front. Post 5th August 2019, fate of Jammu and Kashmir changed forever, but even then J&K couldn’t enjoy the fruits of Digital India as for 18 month mobile lockdown was imposed but once the stabilization of Kashmir was achieved, terrorism got done and dusted, peace attained, e-Governance has been now the focus of LG Administration. Now from applying and issuance of Domicile Certificate online to biometric PDS distribution of ration to Ayushman Card and two hundred plus PSGA assured services are now the hallmark and with each passing day more services are being added up and latest directive of CS to ensure delivery of all services by all the departments to be online by 15th January 2023 is the most welcome step as time and again different departments have been found delaying the services on one pretext or other and benefits of hundreds of Government schemes have not reached down to ground level. The interaction of senior officers and public during recent four Back to Village and My Town My Pride initiatives revealed that public is not aware of so many schemes, even if they are aware it takes too much of time to approach different offices to get the benefits and manual process also leads to corrupt practices and lame excuses which are simply not acceptable. One of the most crucial aspect is the topography, terrain and harsh winters of Jammu and Kashmir as during these winter months things are almost standstill. The best course is to put the services in online mode with timeline set. Discontinuation of annual Darbar move has set the example and now recent January deadline will ensure the ball rolls in the right direction. The only bottleneck is awareness and lack of computer knowledge as such focus has to be on establishing more Khidmat Centres and making sure public is aware of the beneficial schemes. All the three tiers of Panchayati Raj along with the Government officers have to ensure public gets maximum benefit of so many welfare plans. During B2V and MTMP public in thousands have got different works done within few days, means something was missing for sure till now and this order of online services will ensure now lakhs get benefited, no one is left out. No more delays in RTI or for that matter any service offered. Government offices are building blocks, they have to deliver services at doorsteps, they must understand that LG Administration is serious on this front, no excuses will work, interests of public are prime, above all.
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