<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Gujarat Administrative Reforms Commission&rsquo;s (GARC) fifth report has revealed that the state's digital governance framework, despite progress, continues to face deep-rooted inefficiencies in service delivery, backend integration and citizen data management.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 88-page report, &ldquo;Digital Citizen Service Delivery for Viksit Gujarat&rdquo;, combines field assessments and data-based analysis. It draws on transaction information from the Digital Gujarat and e-District platforms to evaluate how efficiently services are delivered.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The study focuses on the 20 most-used citizen services, which together account for nearly 80 per cent of all requests, providing a clear picture of the state&rsquo;s existing performance gaps and administrative challenges.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Only 4% services are fully digital</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The report notes that Gujarat records 671 e-transactions per 1,000 citizens, the highest in India, yet only around 4% of these are fully digital from application to approval. Most services remain semi-online, with manual verification, physical submissions, and repeated visits still required.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">About 80% of all applications come from just 20 key services such as income, caste, and ration card certificates, areas most affected by slow processing, document duplication and human error.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The commission observed that data silos across departments have created inefficiencies and user frustration. Over 60% of applications are resubmitted due to discrepancies in data between systems such as Aadhaar, education boards and local records.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For example, mismatches between student and Aadhaar information have led to thousands of rejections of income certificates during school admissions.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The report revealed that of roughly three crore service requests processed between 2021-22 and 2024-25, about 96 per cent involved manual or assisted steps, underscoring the limited progress towards end-to-end paperless delivery.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weak infrastructure and manpower gaps</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">At the service delivery level, GARC found that 70% of Jan Seva Kendras (JSKs) lack sufficient staff and infrastructure to handle digital transactions efficiently. Many centres operate with minimal technical capacity and limited internet bandwidth, especially in rural areas.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The report highlights that Village Computer Entrepreneurs, crucial intermediaries in villages, face inconsistent payments and lack modern tools, leading to low motivation and service delays.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also found seasonal spikes in demand, with applications peaking every June for education-related certificates, causing long queues and backlog accumulation.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The report calls for a complete overhaul of digital workflows through a Digital Gujarat 2.0 platform integrating Single Sign-On (SSO), centralised data repositories, and predictive alerts for citizen entitlements.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">GARC Chairman Dr Hasmukh Adhia said the findings show &ldquo;the need to transition from form-based governance to proactive, integrated digital systems.&rdquo;</span></div>

Only a small share of Gujarat’s citizen services are fully digital, GARC report shows

Digital Gaps Persist in Guj’s E-governance System

Only a small share of Gujarat’s citizen services are fully digital, GARC report shows

October 30, 2025 | 01:48 IST