e-Governance aims to deliver citizen-centric outcomes

Visakhapatnam: Secretary of the Central Information Commission, Government of India Rashmi Chowdhary highlighted how digital tools such as iGOT and Mission Karmayogi support online training and skilling, GIS platforms like Bhuvan assist in urban planning and flood monitoring and data visualisation tools such as power BI and tableau enable evidence-based policymaking.

Emphasising the importance of citizen-centric governance on the second day of the 28th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG)-2025 in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, she spoke about the potential of generative AI in drafting letters, reports, and policy briefs, along with language solutions like Bhashini and Anuvadini that promote inclusivity.

The plenary session on ‘civil service and digital transformation’ focused on how digital transformation is reshaping civil services by equipping administrators with tools for real-time monitoring, predictive policymaking and enhanced service delivery.

The discussions highlighted that embedding technology into governance enables civil servants to deliver citizen-centric outcomes while bridging geographical, linguistic, and socio-economic gaps.

In his address, Chief Commissioner of State Taxes, Andhra Pradesh Babu A underlined the role of civil servants in policy making, execution, system creation, change management, and training.

He stressed the need for credible commitment across government, service providers and citizens.

Addressing the gathering, V Srinivas, Secretary DARPG, said “Hundreds of participants took part in the conference, and 80 ministries were represented along with several states and Union Territories. For the first time, the Gram Panchayat also participated. It was an extraordinary knowledge-sharing experience.”

Speaking on the occasion, SN Tripathi, Director General of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, emphasised the ongoing nature of e-Governance. “E-Governance is a journey, not a destination.

Andhra Pradesh has approached it in a unique manner, particularly through Aadhaar-enabled welfare schemes. This approach ensures efficiency and savings while providing services to citizens,” he stated.

Bhaskar Katamneni, Secretary, ITE&C Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh outlined three key takeaways from the conference, including the need for inter-state cooperation to reduce duplication in e-governance initiatives, the availability of state-developed applications for replication by other states and the importance of data sharing between the government of India and states to improve service delivery.

During the event, Sarita Chauhan, Joint Secretary, DARPG, read out the Visakhapatnam Declaration. The declaration reaffirmed the national vision of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ and the guiding principle of ‘minimum government, maximum governance.’

The conference highlighted the need for collaboration between central and state governments, industry, academia and civil society to ensure scalable, inclusive, and effective digital governance across the country.