CM Devendra Fadnavis wants Mantralaya to go paperless from November 1

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has made it compulsory for all departments to go online from November 1 in a bid to promote e-governance. The departments are finding it tough to go online in the absence of technical support. However, the chief minister has ordered the departments to send all the files in e-format only to his office for approvals.

The state government has been long pushing for e-governance in Mantralaya and other government offices to go paperless and maintain proper record of the documents. However, most of the departments only make note of the file movement online instead of uploading the entire file.

“The order from the chief minister said that the Mantralaya department should go online from November 1. Any file coming to the CMO for approval should be in e-format,” an official from the CMO said. The order said the move has been taken to go paperless and have digitisation of data available with the government.

However, the departments are finding it tough to go online with files coming for approval on a daily basis. “Scanning each file is difficult in the absence of manpower. We do not have an adequate staff that can convert the file in digital format. The intention to go online is good but we need infrastructure for that. Also, the files that come from districts have no electronic back up. Converting those files here is also a mammoth task. E-governance should take place gradually but not in a hurry,” an official from the water resources department said on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the government has taken initiatives like Aaple Sarkar, a part of digital India campaign. The website gives access to right to information, right to services and for addressing grievances. All the government schemes are put online on the website.