Kerala: Local bodies to go digital with K-SMART on New Year's Day; Check details
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the ambitious K-SMART project, which aims to provide local self-government organisations' services digitally on a standardised platform, throughout the state on January 1.
FollowThiruvananthapuram: Beginning on January 1, 2024, all local body government services in Kerala will be accessible via mobile devices as part of the state's massive K-Smart digitization plan. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the e-governance initiative, Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation (K-Smart), on January 1. This will make Kerala the first state to offer this kind of service.
The Local Self-Government Department's K-Smart platform, created by the Information Kerala Mission, would make several services easier to access, such as complaints, applications for different permissions and certifications, and other alternatives.
State Local Self Government Minister M.B. Rajesh said, "It will enable people to access services of all local bodies in the state in a time-bound manner without visiting the offices. The application is embedded with an Integrated Messaging System that will ensure delivery of receipts of applications and complaints through the respective login of the applicant/complainant and also over their WhatsApp and e-mail."
The 35 modules that makeup KSMART are accessible to citizens via a single platform and represent the activities and services rendered by local organisations. Initially, the public will have access to eight services via KSMART, and users can log in to the web portal to access the modules.
"These services are death, birth and marriage registration, business facilitation (licenses for traders and industries), property tax, user management, file management system, finance module, building permission module, and complaint redressal system. K-SMART will be especially beneficial to expatriates as they will be able to access the services of local bodies without physically visiting the offices," added Rajesh.
Once the video-enabled KYC (Know Your Customer) using login ID is also introduced, expatriates will be able to do marriage registrations and similar other formalities from their foreign destination.
