Haryana’s Digital initiative Antodaya Saral recognises by the President of India at Digital India Award 2020
New Delhi: Ashoka University’s collaboration with the Government of Haryana through the Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) has been instrumental in enabling the digitization of government services in the state in the form of Antodaya Saral, earning the coveted “Digital India Award 2020 for Excellence in Digital Governance.”
The Government of Haryana was conferred the award by President Ram Nath Kovind on December 30th. This flagship programme by the Government of Haryana offers more than 600 schemes and services to citizens across over 35 departments. Citizens can simply go to Antyodaya Saral Kendra or a Common Service Centre in the state and avail any scheme or service.
Antodaya Saral was envisioned by Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Manohar Lal Khattar in 2017 to build a citizen-centric service delivery system and to bring transparency by enabling citizens to monitor their application status. A total of 115 Saral centers, which are citizen touchpoints, have been established across 22 districts to enable the delivery of the 600+ schemes and services to citizens. The centers have recorded a footfall of more than 28 lakh people since their launch in 2017.
Antodaya Saral project is a success due to efforts of various team on ground, NIC Haryana cell and CMGGAs. Chief Minister Good Governance Associates (CMGGAs) placed by Ashoka University contributed in ensuring operationalization of these Saral centers, in digitising services online across departments, and enabling smooth rollout of services and schemes on-ground.
According to Project Director Dr. Rakesh Gupta, “Antyodaya Saral has been a flagship programme in reforming the service delivery mechanisms within the government. Since its launch, over 3.53 crore applications for schemes/services across Haryana came to visibility. Every year we track 90+ lakh applications to ensure timely service delivery to citizens. Besides, citizens are informed about the status of their applications regularly through proactive SMSes.”
The services provided by Antodaya Saral can be availed at both physical – the nearest Common Service Centre (CSC) or at the 117 Antyodaya Saral Kendras run by the Government, and online touchpoints. Antyodaya Saral offers the citizens a standard service delivery experience across the State in terms of the documents required, fees charged and grievance redressal, etc. Citizens of Haryana have given Antyodaya Saral an overall satisfaction rating of 4.3 on a scale of 5 through automated IVRS feedback calls made to them.