“The concerned departments have not restored the crashing service delivery portals even after a directive from the General Administration Department (GAD) to do so in short time.”
The crashing of some key service delivery portals of Jammu & Kashmir Government not heading to immediate restoration for last more than two weeks is a matter of deep concern for the people of the Union Territory who are now fully acquainted with the digital service delivery system for than last four years. The recovery of the said key service delivery portals from crashing taking almost more than a fortnight shows that it is not just an unresolved technical failure but the failure of the Information Technology (IT) Department mandated to strengthen the digital Governance services in critical times witnessed in the aftermath of recent border shelling incidents and windstorms that have rendered thousands of people shelter less more in border areas and comparatively less in plains across Jammu & Kashmir. Interestingly the concerned departments have not restored the crashing service delivery portals even after a directive from the General Administration Department (GAD) to do so in short time. The key service delivery portals remaining non functional for over two weeks include Jammu and Kashmir Land Records Information System (JKLRIS) and its companion platform Revenue Plus besides B S Smart and Bill Sahulliyat apps of Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation Ltd (KPDCL) launched only last year for monthly tariff payments for the power consumers across Jammu & Kashmir. Other digital services that have gone offline include EMpower, eUnnat, and Apki Zameen Apki Nigrani. The crashing of digital delivery services has severely impacted administrative and citizen-centric transactions across Jammu & Kashmir. Notably the crashing of JKLRI has led to huge disruption in revenue mutation processes at tehsil offices leaving thousands of people in distress.
“Experiences of e-governance practices and procedures of last more than four years have proved it beyond doubt that when service delivery portals and apps go offline, people are forced to pursue old conventional manual processes and unfortunately people find such manual methods rarely available in Government Departments now. Such delays always put people at the receiving end and finally erode trust and faith of people in the working of digital systems of governance of Jammu & Kashmir. Since digital governance has become the strongest tool of efficient and responsive administration, the immediate restoration of the service delivery portals and apps is the only way to restore the faith of people in the working of digital governance system in Jammu & Kashmir.”
The failure of the concerned departments in restoring the service delivery portals and apps also shows that connectivity and service infrastructure has not been upgraded from time to time. While a huge collapse of the e-governance system if not restored immediately can finally force the Government to revert back to conventional practices and procedures in the delivery of key public services in Jammu & Kashmir, the disconnection of the digital service delivery system of Jammu & Kashmir Government with the Central Government’s centralised system of e-governance can bring under tremendous stress the working of J&K Government’s overall governance system. Experiences of e-governance practices and procedures of last more than four years have proved it beyond doubt that when service delivery portals and apps go offline, people are forced to pursue old conventional manual processes and unfortunately people find such manual methods rarely available in Government Departments now. Such delays always put people at the receiving end and finally erode trust and faith of people in the working of digital systems of governance of Jammu & Kashmir. Since digital governance has become the strongest tool of efficient and responsive administration, the immediate restoration of the service delivery portals and apps is the only way to restore the faith of people in the working of digital governance system in Jammu & Kashmir.
