Kerala, which last year became the first Indian State to declare Internet a basic human right, has notched up another first to its credit by launching mKeralam, an app that will serve as a single window for accessing thousands of government services.
Developed by the Kerala State Information Technology Mission, the app will initially offer 100 citizen-oriented public services of 20 departments, before eventually expanding to 1,000 services from more than 80 departments.
“The number of departments on board may exceed 100 if one takes into account various directorates and commissionerates,” said Muraleedharan Manningal, Head of the State e-Governance Mission Team. The app was launched on Thursday by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at #Future, a two-day global digital summit being held in Kochi.
The services accessible via mKeralam are already available through the State government website www.kerala.gov.in . “But the idea is to offer simplified, omni-channel access to citizen services across multiple platforms, including the website, mobile app, and Akshaya centres so that citizens can pick whichever mode is most convenient for them,” Mr. Manningal said.
The government is fast-tracking the setting up of Statewide infrastructure in order to render all public services accessible on the mobile app. “Independent mobile application-based services provided by various departments will now be integrated and brought aboard the mKeralam app. The goal is to offer a one-stop shop for all public services, as it will not be convenient for citizens to depend on different apps to access different services,” Mr. Manningal said.
The digital summit also witnessed the launch of Kerala Wi-Fi (KFI), which will be accessible at 1,000 public spaces evenly distributed across the State. The Wi-Fi will be available at hospitals, bus stops, parks, libraries, government offices, and other such places where public services are accessed.
“The objective is to have 5,000 Wi-Fi spots in five years by adding 1,000 spots each year. There would be unlimited access to government services, but we will have a cap on its use for other purposes, such as accessing social networking sites,” Mr. Manningal said. This differential provision of Wi-Fi, for government services versus other uses, has drawn some criticism on the grounds that it violates the principle of net neutrality.
The rollout of KFI was marked by the government granting, for a period of one year, unlimited free access to the network to all who registered digitally for the #Future summit.
