Mobile apps help improve government efficiency, says study

The use of mobile applications offered by the central and the state governments will help improve the efficiency of government administrative machinery by 80%, a study has said.

The study report titled Contribution of Smartphones to Digital Governance in India, prepared by the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) and KPMG India, said, "smartphones and e-services can be leveraged by the government to unlock 80% improvement in the efficiency."

At present there are over 300 government applications, both by the Centre and states, facilitating essential citizen services including information dissemination, direct benefit transfers, education and healthcare.

Key services such as education, healthcare, finance, utilities, justice and transport have become more accessible to the general public through mobile applications, the report said.

The report also highlighted the efficiency of online processes like land-use change, water connection, passport issuance in paperless government offices.

"Smartphones have facilitated access to a rapidly expanding range of digitally delivered services through apps, like Umang, Digilocker and Bhim, and also through mobile-friendly websites," said Ajay Sawhney, Secretary Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, while commenting on the report.

India’s smartphone base is likely to touch 820 million in the next two years.

The growth in the number of internet users in India is expected to be driven by rural users, many of whom will use devices in local languages.

Rural India has witnessed a year-on-year growth of 35% in 2018 as opposed to 7% growth in urban India in the same period in terms of internet users. Smartphone penetration in rural India has risen from 9% in 2015 to 25% in 2018, said the study.

"The prevalence of Open OS in smartphones has facilitated the inclusion of vernacular languages and reduced the time taken to build supporting mobile apps. With the goal to digitally equip and connect every citizen, India is using smartphones and technologies to stride towards a truly digital nation," said Pankaj Mohindroo, ICEA Chairman.