India News | Odisha Steadily Moving Towards Paperless Governance: CM Majhi

Bhubaneswar, Jul 17 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday said that the state is steadily moving towards paperless governance.

Majhi, along with Union minister Jitendra Singh, inaugurated a two-day national conference on 'Good Governance Practices' here.

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"Our annual budget presentation is now entirely paperless. For internal government communication, we have implemented OSWAS (Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System), a fully automated system that has significantly reduced response time," the chief minister said.

OSWAS has made governance more responsive and transparent, he said.

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As part of the good governance initiative, most of the citizen-centric services are now available online. Basic services such as obtaining birth or death certificates, residential certificates, and benefits from various schemes are just a click away on mobile phones, Majhi said.

Asserting that the state's grievance redressal mechanism is nothing short of revolutionary, he said, "In addition to personally addressing people's grievances as often as possible, we have an online platform for automated grievance redressal that is highly effective."

"Odisha is proud to contribute not just as a host but as an active partner in India's journey towards responsive and transparent governance," Majhi added.

He said the state has embraced the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform India from "rule-based to role-based" governance.

"We are empowering civil servants, by transforming them from being 'karmachari' to 'karmayogi'," he added.

The CM called for a shift from "bureaucracy to responsiveness, from files to data, and from compliance to outcomes".

Union minister Singh stressed the importance of regional collaboration for reform in governance.

"Good governance means turning every challenge into an opportunity. By holding these conferences across different states, we ensure that governance models are both locally relevant and nationally cohesive," he said.

The Centre has done away with over 1,500 obsolete rules and regulations, making the functioning of the government more efficient and citizen-friendly, he said.

Jointly organised by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and the Odisha government, the two-day conference has drawn over 400 delegates from across the country. The event serves as a platform for sharing best practices, innovations, and policy insights aimed at strengthening governance frameworks nationwide.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)