Delhi govt to soon offer its 'Governance through WhatsApp' initiative

The Delhi government is working to provide several of its services in a faceless manner, with documents like birth and caste certificates being applied for and delivered using WhatsApp. Nearly 50 services of different departments have been identified, for which one can apply through WhatsApp, they said. Under the 'Governance through WhatsApp' initiative, various services that can be currently applied for online, will be brought to WhatsApp using artificial intelligence.

According to a senior government officer, the users will be able to interact with a bilingual chatbot, in Hindi and English that will help them apply for services and documents such as birth and caste certificates, upload necessary papers, and pay the fees.

The project is being prepared by the Information Technology Department, which used to operate the doorstep delivery of government services under the previous regime in Delhi.

For the purpose of executing the WhatsApp services model, a dashboard will be developed for real-time monitoring and management of the departments' interactions with the applicants, the official said.

Furthermore, the project will be implemented by a tech company that will be engaged by the government to design and deploy the system, he added.