VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh remains the only State in the country that has not implemented the Centre’s flagship e-Sewa Kendras initiative under the e-Courts Mission Mode Phase-III project in any court complex, including the High Court at Amaravati. This was revealed by Union Minister of State for Law and Justice (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal in response to a query raised by Lok Sabha MP Arun Bharti.
According to the Minister’s reply, all 24 other States selected under the project have operationalised e-Sewa Kendras effectively across High Courts and district courts. A total of 41 such Kendras are currently functioning in various HCs, with several courts having more than one centre, and 1,773 Kendras are active in district courts nationwide. However, no reason was cited for AP’s non-participation.
Launched in 2023, e-Sewa Kendras are intended to bridge the digital divide by offering accessible services to litigants and lawyers, including e-filing, obtaining case status, judgments, and court orders. These centres are part of the Centre’s broader effort to enhance citizen-centric access to the judiciary through improved digital infrastructure.
The e-Courts Phase-III project has been allocated Rs 7,210 crore to modernise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in courts, improve judicial productivity, and support paperless functioning.
Of this, Rs 2,038.40 crore is earmarked for the scanning, digitisation, and digital preservation of court records, while Rs 394.48 crore has been allocated specifically for setting up e-Sewa Kendras in court complexes.
The government is integrating advanced technologies such as AI and Machine Learning into judicial systems to support case management and real-time transcription of oral arguments, especially in Constitutional Bench matters. The Supreme Court, in partnership with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), is using these tools to translate English judgments into 18 Indian languages.
Prototypes developed in collaboration with IIT Madras are being tested for applications such as defect curing, metadata extraction, and integration with electronic filing systems and the Integrated Case Management and Information System (ICMIS). Despite these nationwide advancements, AP’s absence from the e-Sewa Kendra initiative remains a glaring exception in the Centre’s digital justice reforms.