New Delhi: Right from the time CM Yogi Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh after securing a landslide victory in 2017, there has been a huge emphasis on introducing technology in functioning of the government and bringing in transparency.
Taking an important step towards creating a transparent mechanism after further strengthening good governance by expanding procedures like DBT and expanding online services to crores of beneficiaries, in Yogi 2.0, Uttar Pradesh also became the first in the entire country to make the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly completely digital and paperless.
Leaving no stone unturned to make India’s most populous state truly a digital state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) service centre at the state assembly’s premises in the presence of assembly speaker Satish Mahana earlier on Thursday.
Now, under ‘E-vidhan’ (digitalisation/digitisation of legislatures) initiative, the MLAs will have electronic tablets installed on their desks at the Assembly to continually update them about the proceedings of the House, the questions undertaken and their answers, agenda of the day, notices, etc. Also, the Assembly will have fixed seats for each of the 403 members.
Moreover, it goes without saying that for a state to become fully digital, the payments and transactions process happening over digital platforms is the backbone of the movement.
In this sequence, various government services have been made available online by the Yogi Adityanath government in the last 5 years. At present, as per the National Government Services Portal, about 178 services are available online in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is amongst the best performing states in the country in using the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system for the beneficiaries to get the benefits of government schemes directly into their bank accounts.
To strengthen the vision of minimum government and maximum governance, more and more government schemes are being made available online. For the convenience of women, female students, senior citizens, farmers, athletes in getting financial assistance in the form of scholarships, grants, pension, medical aid or under schemes like PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, technology has been put in use to eliminate the role of touts, therefore, eradicating corruption.
From the year 2017 till now, the Uttar Pradesh government has set a record and has transferred more than Rs.3 lakh crores to the beneficiaries through DBT. In the year 2020-21 itself, an amount of Rs 56,000 crore had reached the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. In pursuance of the directives of CM Yogi Adityanath as many as 137 schemes of 27 government departments have been linked to this system.
Besides, during Covid-19 crisis, lakhs of farmers, MGNREGA beneficiaries, laborers, workers, women, old and disabled citizens and pensioners were provided benefits without any kind of delay in a hassle-free manner.
Similarly, tenders for all types of purchases made by the government are also floated through the GeM portal. In the year 2020-21, Uttar Pradesh was the highest performing state in the country by making purchases of Rs 5471 crore through the GeM portal.
Several departments of the UP government have received awards for the best performance in the field of e-governance, including two awards to the Higher Education Department – Digital Library and the system of providing NOC and Affiliation Certificates online. The ‘Seva Mitra’ platform, designed to facilitate employment, and the ‘Mine Mitra’ platform of the Department of Mining have also been awarded in their category.
Such initiatives and achievements bear testimony to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision of making the functioning of the government transparent, just, corruption-free and ensuring that beneficiaries do not remain deprived of their rights.
