Andhra Pradesh to launch 700 public services via WhatsApp from Independence Day

Chandrababu Naidu

In a major push for digital governance, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced on Monday that 700 public services will be made available through the Mana Mitra WhatsApp platform starting August 15. The initiative aims to streamline citizen access to government services without physical visits to offices, marking a significant step in the state’s e-governance efforts, according to a report by The Hindu.

During a review meeting at the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS), Naidu instructed officials to ensure seamless implementation of the WhatsApp-based services and launch awareness campaigns to drive public adoption. The Hindu reported that the Chief Minister stressed the need for robust technical infrastructure to prevent glitches.

Alongside the Mana Mitra rollout, Naidu inaugurated Aware 2.0, an enhanced RTGS module designed to forecast rainfall and analyse real-time water data, including river inflows, groundwater absorption and rainwater utilisation strategies.

The Chief Minister issued directives on multiple fronts, emphasising disease control, drone surveillance and AI-driven law enforcement. He called for preventive measures to curb infectious diseases, particularly malaria and urged the use of drones to identify contamination hotspots and monitor criminal elements.

Deploy technology with an “iron hand” to curb anti-social activities, Naidu said, according to The Hindu. He also highlighted the role of AI in monitoring air quality and advanced rainfall alerts to aid disaster preparedness.

With the state’s Drone Corporation already developing 45 use cases, Naidu pushed for wider drone deployment in agriculture to reduce pesticide usage and in public health to combat mosquito breeding. He also directed officials to expedite the construction of a dedicated “Drone City”.

Additionally, the Chief Minister set a November deadline for RTGS to complete its Data Lake project, which will integrate AI for advanced analytics. He emphasised leveraging e-crop and soil fertility data to provide district-specific farming recommendations, helping reduce fertiliser costs.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary K Vijayanand, IT and RTG Secretary Bhaskar Katamneni and RTGS CEO Prakhar Jain, among other senior officials.