Bangalore: In an effort towards boosting its egovernance projects in the state, government of Karnataka on Monday launched multi-mode mobile governance platform, ‘Karnataka MobileOne,’ which would offer over 4,500 services both from the state departments and private value-added services (VAS) such as bus ticket bookings, taxi services and others.
Labelled as first of its kind in the country, the unified mobile platform services, is accessible on both smatphones and no-frill mobile handsets through integrated voice response (IVR), SMS and mobile web to reach out to the rural population.
The app is available for download on Android and iOS platforms through which citizens can pay their utility bills, property tax, file income-tax returns, track their driving licenses and other activities.
“Good decision-making calls for pooling of knowledge, experience and views of all stakeholders including citizens. Recognising this mantra of statecraft, Karnataka pursues the deepening of bond between the government and the governed,” said President Pranab Mukherjee, while launching the mobile governance platform, adding that, “The unique initiative signals a new era in governance.”
The function was presided over by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. State governor Vajubhai Vala was also present at the launch of the platform.
Last year Karnataka government had launched a pilot project where citizens could access services such as electricity, water, and phone bill payments, traffic alerts service and pending traffic fine payments through voice and internet platforms.
Focusing on the development in the technology sector in the state, the president pointed out that the IT sector has transformed the society. “It has created an eco-system for the government to tap technology-enabled solutions for deployment in the area of governance for the benefit of the common man. Karnataka, for one, is an IT hub portraying a success story that has few parallels. It contributes to thirty percent of the total software exports of our country,” he said.
The new e-governance initiative aims to bring a slew of services that were till now spread across multiple government websites into one common platform. The location agnostic service is available across all major mobile-service providers.
Among other services, citizens can also take photographs of potholes, waste disposals and other civic issues and send it to the concerned authorities for redressal through smart geo tagging in mobile devices.
Payments on MobileOne can be done through debit or credit cards and online wallets. The government has also introduced ‘Karnataka Wallet’ through which payments could be integrated.
The MobileOne platform will also integrate digital media and advertising going forward to enable it to be a self-sustaining model to pay for some select services through advertising revenue, user fees and subscription models.
The mobile-governance platform is a public-private partnership mode developed by Karnataka government’s Centre for E-Governance and mobile VAS provider IMIMobile. A new Twitter alerts system for government announcements and emergency actions, along with integration with Facebook, is also in the pipeline.
