WhatsApp governance in focus, Delhi govt to organise to study tour to other states to review best practices

Officials said that the tour will benefit in knowledge exchange and identification of scalable technologies and governance models. “It will also support strategic planning for upcoming digital initiatives in Delhi,” said the senior official.

Under this ‘WhatsApp governance’ governance initiative, the residents of Delhi will be able to apply for services, verify documents, and download certificates — all from the comfort of their home. Officials said that tenders have been floated and discussions on bidding are ongoing to select a firm to award the work.

“Through this service, citizens of Delhi can avail multi-departmental services from the convenience of their WhatsApp account, without the need for additional applications or physical visits to government offices, thereby improving accessibility, transparency, and governance efficiency,” said a senior official.

The previous AAP government had launched a similar “doorstep delivery” scheme, which provided access to more than 30 services — across government departments — to the citizens. The scheme, however, became inactive last year following the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, who was serving as the chief minister at the time, as the policy could not be extended as he was the cabinet head.

The new project aims to strengthen citizen service delivery by integrating key services with the WhatsApp platform using its API and Generative AI (Gen AI) capabilities, a senior official said.

Initially, 25-30 services like marriage, birth,caste certificate, learning licence,and driving licence, available on the district portal and other departments will be added to the WhatsApp governance platform, said officialsm adding that following its success, more services will be added gradually.