“Governance is now in the hands of the people, ours is a people’s government”, said Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh. The Government of AP has launched WhatsApp Governance to offer civil services as part of easing the issuing the government linked certificates and other services.
The service named as ‘Mana Mitra’, first of its kind in the country, was formally launched by IT Minister Nara Lokesh at his residence in Undavalli, Amaravati.
The state government has allotted an official WhatsApp number 9552300009 for this. Speaking on the occasion, Minister Nara Lokesh said, “I have done a 3,132 km padayatra called the “Yuvagalam” padayatra. This idea started from the Yuvagalam padayatra. These days at the press of a button, we are watching a movie, food is delivered, a cab is coming. The question arose as to why the government does not come to the people. I said that day that I am accepting that challenge. That is why WhatsApp Governance is being launched with the slogan ‘Mana Mitra’, government in the hands of the people, governance in the hands of the people, ours is the people’s government.
Chandrababu Naidu posted on X, stating, “1995 – E-Governance, 2025 – WhatsApp Governance,” highlighting digital transformation.
1995 – E-Governance
2025 – WhatsApp Governance📱9552300009#WhatsAppGovernanceInAP pic.twitter.com/Jbx2WaiseU
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) January 30, 2025
-Mana Mitra – Where citizen services are at the finger tips
Lokesh said, “Every house has a smartphone in their pocket. 60% of people have a smartphone. They all install WhatsApp. I thought of working with WhatsApp during the Yuvagalam Padayatra. I met and spoke to Meta India Head Sandhya. Nowhere in the world have so many services been brought through a single platform. Not even in terms of government. They asked if you could do it. On October 22 last year, an agreement was signed with Meta in Delhi. That day, I accepted the challenge. It was said that we would launch it by December. We are launching it three months and 9 days after the MoU.”
Proud to announce the launch of Andhra Pradesh’s first-ever Digital Public Services Chatbot on WhatsApp, in collaboration with @Meta ! 🚀 This initiative brings 161 services directly to 50 million citizens, from booking temple seva, to paying utility bills — all within a single… pic.twitter.com/PkrQ99f3YW
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) January 30, 2025
161 types of civil services available in the first phase
Lokesh said, “36 departments will have to be connected to WhatsApp Governance. This is a very complicated task. In the first phase, we are making 161 civil services available. In the second phase, we will start 360 civil services. WhatsApp Governance is the bridge between the government and the people. The public government takes the responsibility of providing certificates in real time. When certificates are provided, there will be a special QR code on them. If you scan that QR code, the link will go to the AP government website. With this, there will be no room for fake certificates. We have also decided to bring blockchain technology soon. Now, we have brought many services along with revenue, municipal, and endowment services through number selection.
In the second phase, we will also implement it through AI bot and voice. We are the first state in the world to implement WhatsApp governance. There is a need to improve this further. There is still a lot to learn. We will correct the shortcomings and make it even better. We are also taking information from all departments in real-time governance and codifying it. We will create a data lake and provide seamless services. Our team has worked tirelessly for the last three months. We have been testing for the last 15 days. I understand that we need to make more improvements. This is a journey. We will make it an ideal product in six months. We will make all the services available. Even if we keep the promise of the padayatra. People will see how much change will come in six months.”
Meta India Vice President and Head Sandhya Devanathan said, “It is a great pleasure to be among you today. “Mana Mitra” WhatsApp services are being launched. WhatsApp plays a prominent role in everyone’s life. We will provide 161 civic services to everyone through our friend. We have created WhatsApp governance to make it easy for people to use. We will make Mana Mitra even better together with the AP government.”
WhatsApp Director and India Head Ravi Garg said, “We will further develop our Mitra WhatsApp Governance and make more services available.” Mr. Garg said that people can easily access civic services by typing “Hi”. He said that currently 161 types of services are being made available.
Bhaskar Katamaneni, Secretary, IT, Electronics and Communication Department, RTGS CEO K. Dinesh and others participated in this program.
