Karnataka becomes first state to launch mobile governance platform- Mobile One

Karnataka has become the first state in India to launch Unified Mobile Governance Platform for citizens named Karnataka MobileOne. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated this mobile governance platform at function held at Bengaluru.
Key facts

• Services: It is the country’s and world’s largest multimode mobile governance platform which will offer 4,500 services including G2C, B2C and G2B services. It will provide services to citizens from both the government and private sector.
• Bill payments: Through this initiative citizens can now pay utility bills, property tax, book bus and railway tickets, file income tax returns, m-passport, driving licenses and many other activities with their smartphones.
• Redressal of issues: using this service, citizens can take picture of road potholes or street lights and send it automatically to the concerned officials for redressal. This initiative named as ‘ICARE’, is one of a kind government citizen engagement model.
• Agriculture: Farmers can know about monsoon, market rates and subsidies.
• Self-sustaining model: It will integrate digital media and advertising going forward to enable it to be a self-sustaining model for some select services via advertising revenue, user fees and subscription models.

MobileOne app is available for download for smartphones while citizens can also access services through this platform by dialing unique 3-digit number 161.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2014