Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurated a video-conferencing facility here on Monday up to the mandal-level in the state under the Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area Network (AP SWAN).
The state-of-art video-conferencing system will connect all the 1,126 mandals with the state capital of Hyderabad.
Speaking on the occasion, Kiran Kumar Reddy said that he facility would bring absolute transparency in government functioning and also take the administration closer to the people.
‘’It is a perfect opportunity to share and discuss the government views on various aspects of development and welfare with officials at mandal level. It not only will ease the administration but also help in taking it to the doorsteps of the people in a transparent and accountable manner,’’ he said.
“This will help the government, the district administration and the people particularly for cyclone, drought and flood relief work. Regular monitoring and review of welfare schemes and e-Governance projects would be possible,” the chief minister said.
Later, Kiran Reddy video-conferenced with the district official of his native place at Kalikiri in Chittoor district and enquired about petitions from people about various problems.
Later, he also interacted with revenue divisional officer of Jangaon in Warangal district.
Hailing Mee Seva services for crossing 3.37 crore transactions, he lauded the efforts of every employee who made it a success. ‘’In fact the programme, which was started on November 4, 2011 with a dozen services now grew leaps and bounds. It had helped the state bagging the best state in governance award recently, which is a matter of pride,’’ he said while calling upon all the employees to rededicate themselves in the service of people.
Mee Seva now offers 225 services through 7,000 centres in the state while providing employment to nearly 12,000 people.
Speaking on the occasion, IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah described it as a historic day in the public administration and e-Governance. He said that realising the dreams of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the state had gone from strength to strength in utilising IT services for public welfare and governance.
He said that while other states are still implementing the first phase of state data centres, Andhra Pradesh has already completed the second phase and proposals are being readied for the third phase.
IT Secretary Sajnay Jaju also spoke.