Reimagining Public Service Delivery in the Phygital World

In their Economic Times article, " Make EPFO faster, higher, stronger ," Sanjeev Sanyal and Shrishti Chauhan compellingly argue that despite the EPFO's growing importance, it's plagued by high claim rejection rates and operational inefficiencies. As someone who recently navigated the portal, I wholeheartedly agree. The interface is cumbersome, requiring excessive CAPTCHAs, and prone to errors. Even simple tasks like password changes take days to reflect across different sections. While the EPFO offers services on its website , the UMANG app provides a surprisingly smoother experience. This highlights the potential of digitisation to improve service delivery. The authors identify key areas for digital improvement, such as consolidating duplicate accounts, leveraging UAN, and enhancing digital accessibility. They also pinpoint data discrepancies, rule non-compliance, and fragmented regional databases as primary causes of high claim rejection rates. Increased resources,...

A great scheme that learns from the past efforts PM Surya Ghar : Muft Bijli Yojna (PMSY) is a flagship government scheme launched by the prime minister on 15 February 2024.  PMSY aims to add rooftop solar to 1 crore households and is supported by over 75,000 crores in budget allocation. It is the government’s third attempt at significantly encouraging rooftop solar deployment.  This attempt takes many lessons from all previous efforts towards distributed solar energy generation and utilisation. There is a single national portal ( https://www.pmsuryaghar.gov.in/ ) that allows the entire application to deployment.  The portal integrates with portals of the many DISCOMs.  All aspects from registration, application, approvals, finding vendors, inspection of completion, subsidy, loans and grievance management is integrated into this single portal. It sets a simplified and standardised process of application and approval. The deployments are performed by installers...

  Abstract This document envisions a transformative approach to public service delivery by integrating digital technologies into a unified, inclusive platform. Current e-Governance initiatives, while impactful, are fragmented and often inaccessible to a significant portion of the population. By leveraging technologies used in successful eCommerce and digital health platforms, we propose an open digital network that consolidates public services, ensuring seamless access, efficient grievance handling, and robust data security. This network would integrate digital repositories, payment systems, and service agents, while addressing the digital divide through physical service centers and inclusive interfaces. The proposed system promises enhanced service quality, cost efficiency, and government transparency, ultimately providing a more equitable public service experience for all citizens. Introduction In today's digital age, e-Governance has revolutionized how governments manage data an...