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Trivandrum: While Kerala is fast advancing towards implementing e-Governance in every possible sector, the State is simultaneously emphasizing on m-Governance wherein the citizens could rely on his own mobile to avail several government services. The m-Governance project, currently being implemented by the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM), is the first of its kind comprehensive project of its kind undertaken by any State in India.

According to P H Kurian IAS, Principal Secretary - IT, GoK, “Given the fact that Kerala has over 3.5 million mobile phones, far exceeding its population, citizens exposed to access government services through mobile phones in their hands could be a radical concept turning to reality in Kerala. By introducing m-Governance, citizens from anywhere, the aged and those reclined at homes could reach for any government service on a 24x7 basis through their mobile phones, instead of the beneficiaries visiting government offices for various services”.

m-Services of various government departments and organizations functioning under them are enabled through an integrated service delivery infrastructure platform in a plug-and-play style, under project m-Governance. To access the services under various government departments and other organizations under it, the general public could type the short code 537252 (KERALA on numeric mobile keypad) which is the single touch point for availing many m-services of 90 State Government Departments.

KSITM is the nodal agency for implementation of m-Governance in Kerala, with MobME Wireless as implementing agency for mobile and service providers. As a tool that could bridge the digital divide in Kerala, 35 services have been ensured for the general public, under m-Governance. About 110 e-SMS accounts have been created and are in use by various Government Departments for inter-departmental and outward communication through mobile technology.

Kerala’s m-Gov initiatives have won several accolades including the eWorld Awards 2011 and the Computer World Honours Laureate Award 2011, instituted by IDG, Washington. The initiative is also being projected as an International Best Practice and a chapter is devoted for this case study in the World Bank’s flagship publication ‘ICT4D 2012’ under the theme mobiles for development.

Kerala IT News