Gujarat Advances Citizen Services with GARC’s 10 Key Reforms

Gandhinagar, Gujarat – Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel established the Gujarat Administrative Reforms Commission to bring about essential reforms in the state’s administrative structure and operations. This initiative aims to ensure that Viksit Gujarat@2047 plays a pivotal role in realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Showing remarkable efficiency, the Commission submitted its first recommendation report to the state government within a month of its formation. Building on this momentum, the second report, featuring 10 key recommendations, was presented to Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel in the second month, under the leadership of GARC Chairman Dr. Hasmukh Adhia. This report focuses on 10 citizen-centric suggestions that aim to advance the goal of ‘Government at Your Doorstep’ through the effective use of digital technology.

The key topics included in this second recommendation report submitted to Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel are as follows:

– Developing User-Friendly Government Websites for a Pleasant Citizen Experience: GARC has recommended improving the quality, accessibility, and security of government websites and mobile applications, and ensuring that all government websites are evaluated by August 2025 and aligned with the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps (GIGW 3.0).

– Improving the efficiency of the Citizen Charter: With a citizen-first approach, a robust system will be established across all citizen service departments based on the Citizen Charter. This system will provide comprehensive details about available services, set time frames for providing services, include grievance redressal mechanisms, and ensure accountability.

– Making Government Service Portals More Citizen Friendly: GARC recommends implementing a single sign-on for all government services, allowing citizens to access benefits from various government schemes and programs through a single platform, ensuring smooth interoperability. This will also eliminate the need for citizens to repeatedly enter the same demographic and identity information to access different services.

– Implementing a System to Verify Government Certificates Using Technology: Aligning with the government’s focus on transparency and accountability, a QR-based, technology-enabled system will be implemented to verify the authenticity of official certificates, licenses, approvals, and other documents issued by the government.

– Making the Grievance Redressal Platform Integrated, Citizen-Centric, and Extensive: The government will expand the existing SWAGAT platform, making it more comprehensive and citizen-centric by integrating various grievance redressal mechanisms. This unified platform will offer multiple channels for citizens to register their grievances, including email, WhatsApp, phone calls, and an online portal.

– Strengthening Institutional Knowledge through Effective Knowledge Management: The government will introduce a ‘Knowledge Transfer Protocol’ mandating all employees (whether transferring or retiring) to submit a Knowledge Transfer document to their successors, ensuring the preservation and enhancement of institutional knowledge. Furthermore, government departments and offices will be responsible for creating multimedia content under the theme “Know Your Department,” highlighting their operations to help citizens gain a better understanding of government functions.

– Vehicle Disposal Protocol for Government Vehicles: The government will establish a protocol for the disposal of old vehicles used by government departments. Additionally, a recommendation has been made to simplify the current system for disposing of unserviceable vehicles.

– Protocol for Disposal of Unused Furniture in Public Offices: The government will establish a furniture disposal protocol for all public offices within the next six months. The report also recommends the disposal of unused furniture following this protocol.

– Revised Office Hours for Government Offices (Excluding Educational Institutions) to 9:30 AM – 5:10 PM: To improve productivity and support work-life balance, the report recommends standardizing the official working hours for all government offices and institutions and government departments, from 9:30 AM to 5:10 PM.

– Effective Usage of Social Media by the Government: The government will implement steps to ensure that its daily operations, schemes, success stories, infographics, and explanatory videos are easily available to the public through official social media platforms. To support this, the government will develop social media guidelines. The commission recommends setting up a task force in each department and its field offices to increase social media engagement.

The second report submitted by the Gujarat Administrative Reforms Commission (GARC) to Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel focuses on reforms aimed at making public services easily accessible to citizens.

A key recommendation of the report is the implementation of a single sign-on system for accessing all government schemes. This initiative, rooted in the “Know Your Citizen” concept, will eliminate the need for citizens to repeatedly provide the same information, ensuring a seamless experience in accessing government services digitally.

The second report was presented to the Chief Minister by GARC Chairman Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, with Commission members, Chief Secretary Shri Pankaj Joshi, and Member Secretary Shri Hareet Shukla in attendance.

Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Chairman of GARC, also shared that the Commission has received over 2,150 responses and suggestions following its first report, which invited input on administrative reforms from both government officials and the public.