Mobile Seva Indian Government’s Initiative wins UN Award

‘Mobile Seva ’Indian Government’s Initiative wins UN Award

Indian governments Department of Electronics and Information Technology conceptualised an initiative to enable delivery of public services electronically through the mobile platform has been awarded a United Nations public service award.
A national wide initiative conceptualized as ‘Mobile Seva’ funded and implemented by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), is among second place winners of the 2014 UN Public Service Awards, along with Bahrain, Brazil, Cameroon, Republic of Korea and Spain. To main stream mobile governance in India as new paradigm for e-delivery of public services through mobile devices is the vision of the project “Mobile Seva”.

“Mobile Seva” leverages the monumental incursion of Mobile phones in India to substantially enhance access to electronic services, especially in the rural areas. It benefits the poor, illiterate, disabled, elderly, and the women in accessing e-governance services as access to mobile phone sins much higher in these segments of the population as compared to access to the internet.
The primary targets of the initiative are to be a one-stop solution for all mobile-based public service delivery needs through mobile-based channels, including SMS, voice/Integrated Voice Response System and mobile applications, a statement said.

UN Awards and Forum celebrate public service initiatives innovating governance for sustainable development and peoples well being. “The annual observance of Public Service highlights the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators in our efforts to build a better world for all”, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.
At a time of complex and independent global challenges, effective governance and efficient public administration are central to meeting our development goals. They will also be vital for implementing the post-2015 development agenda” Ban Said.
“These winning institutions demonstrate the principles that support transparent, accountable and collaborative governance,. They have expired new pathways to enhance the role of responsive and accountable governance for sustainable development”, said Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo.
This year’s winning projects involve ameliorating education, increasing access portable in water in rural areas, ameliorating access to and the quality of health care, integrating government data including social security systems, enhancing transparency though increased access to information for citizens and abridging infant mortality rate.