Guj CM pitches for 'faceless' transactions to curb corruption

The Gujarat government is working to maximise the use of technology and create a faceless system to remove corruption and bring in transparency in governance, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Monday. On the second day of the nine-day celebrations to mark the completion of his five years as chief minister, Rupani, while addressing a gathering here, said Gujarat is at the forefront of extending benefits of internet services to villages in the state under the BharatNet project.

Rajkot (Gujarat):The Gujarat government is working to maximise the use of technology and create a faceless system to remove corruption and bring in transparency in governance, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Monday. On the second day of the nine-day celebrations to mark the completion of his five years as chief minister, Rupani, while addressing a gathering here, said Gujarat is at the forefront of extending benefits of internet services to villages in the state under the BharatNet project.

From the 'Seva Setu' programme -- under which camps were held four-five times a year at taluka and municipality levels to help citizens avail the benefits of various government schemes -- the government is now moving towards the 'e-Seva Setu,' to offer services to people on a daily basis using technology, the CM said. Rupani said his government is committed to remove corruption and bring in transparency in governance.

“For this, we are planning maximum use of technology to create a faceless system. For this, we plan to move ahead by shifting services online in different departments,” he said. The CM said the government recently made services pertaining to non-agriculture land approval online, which helped in removing corruption. Other services like e-tendering for mines and minerals have also reduced corruption, he claimed.

Rupani became the chief minister of Gujarat on August 7, 2016, following the resignation of incumbent Anandiben Patel, and continued in the office after the BJP's victory in the 2017 Assembly elections. The second day of the nine-day programme to mark his completion of five years in office was celebrated as 'Samvedna Divas', wherein the CM transferred a financial aid of Rs 4,000 (as part of a monthly scheme) into the accounts of each of the 978 children in Gujarat who lost both their parents to COVID-19.

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He also launched the government's scheme for providing Rs 2,000 per month to each of the 3,963 children who lost one of their parents due to the pandemic. The state government last year launched the Digital Seva Setu programme by which 55 public welfare schemes of various government departments are made available at the panchayat level using internet through optical fibre networks.

Referring to it, Rupani said crores of people have benefited from the government's Seva Setu programme, which is held four-five times in a year. Now, the government is moving towards the e-Seva Setu, which will provide the people benefits of various schemes on a daily basis (rather than through special camps under the 'Seva Setu' programme), he said.

“Gujarat has become the first state to connect the villages directly through internet. The BharatNet's e-connectivity with high frequency has helped people in villages and gram panchayats to avail 55 services through computer without them requiring to visit taluka or collector office,” he said. Rupani said his government will create a facility in the coming days where people can submit an e-application and immediately receive the required certificates.

"Gujarat will be the first state where people will avail all services sitting back in their villages...we are using technology to move in the direction of providing the e-Seva Setu," he said. On the occasion, he also launched the government's 433 Seva Setu camps across the state and launched a new scheme encouraging remarriage of widows through financial support from the government.

Rupani also re-launched a host of projects for citizens of Rajkot, like online booking of city bus services and a GIS-enabled portal for various services.

PTI