Jammu: With 913 citizen-centric services available online, Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday edged past Kerala to clinch the second spot amongst states and Union territories in the sphere.

Announcing the on-boarding of 913 services on the e-UNNAT portal, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta said it is an important milestone in tune with the resolve of the administration to provide ease, convenience and accessibility of services to the common people.

"Under the Digital J&K Programme that was launched in mission mode last year, the number of online services has increased exponentially from 35 services in 2021 to 913 services as on date,” Mehta said.

With 913 online services, Jammu and Kashmir has overtaken Kerala which provides 911 services online and is placed at the second position in the country after Madhya Pradesh.

Mehta emphasised on the need to identify more citizen-centric services, especially in the areas of health, education and drug de-addiction, for development in online mode so as to reach a wider section of the populace.

"The use of technology has ushered in a new era of digital governance in Jammu and Kashmir with 24×7 availability of services on the single unified portal as well as the ‘mobile dost' app. The services have even been linked with the Rapid Assessment System (RAS) for citizen feedback and over 52 lakh SMSs have been sent till date with an approval rating of 86 per cent,” he said.

Moreover, the chief secretary said 300 online services have been linked to the auto appeal system wherein appeals are escalated to the appellate authorities in case a service is not provided within the timelines defined under Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA).

He said these measures have veritably enhanced the transparency and accountability in the functioning of government departments besides taking administration to the doorsteps of people in the Union territory.

PTI