Maharashtra's E-Governance Drive: Public Works, Forest, and Water Supply Departments Top the Charts

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s public works, forest, and water supply and sanitation departments have been ranked among the top three departments under the state’s 150-day e-governance reform programme. The evaluation was carried out by the Quality Council of India, a statement by the chief minister’s office said.

The public works and forest departments are led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers Shivendraraje Bhosale and Ganesh Naik, respectively, while the water supply department is led by Shiv Sena minister Gulabrao Patil.

The rankings were announced on Monday, on the occasion of the Republic Day celebrations. The offices were assessed on seven parameters, including their official websites, implementation of the Aaple Sarkar system, e-office usage, office dashboards, WhatsApp chatbots, and adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and GIS in government functioning, the CMO statement said.

Government offices competed across 10 categories, including Mantralaya departments, police and municipal corporations, and district collectorates, among others. Of the 57 departments that come directly under the state cabinet ministers, the top seven were named in the results announced on Monday.

Apart from the top three, the remaining four are transport and ports (led by Sena’s Pratap Sarnaik and BJP’s Nitesh Rane), environment (led by BJP’s Pankaja Munde), school education (Sena’s Dadaji Bhuse) and medical education and food and drugs administration (led by NCP’s Hassan Mushrif and NCP’s Narhari Zirwal).

Of the 12 police commissionerates, the Nashik, Thane, and Nagpur police are at the top. Similarly, among the 36 offices of superintendents of police in rural areas, the Thane, Nagpur, and Akola SP offices topped the list.

Among the top-performing offices were the Jalgaon District Collectorate, Thane Rural Superintendent of Police Office, Panvel Municipal Corporation, Nashik Police Commissionerate, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner’s Office, Nanded Inspector General of Police Office, Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra Maritime Board, and the Public Works Department.

The municipal commissioners of Panvel, Pune, and Ulhasnagar were adjudged the top three from a list of 29 corporations. Officials said the departments would soon be felicitated at a special event to be chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.