Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Meta Platforms Inc. at Gandhinagar.

The state government has already introduced nearly 20 citizen-centric services from five key departments through the Sugam Digital Gujarat initiative, based on recommendations made by GARC, using WhatsApp chatbot technology. The newly signed MoU with Meta is expected to further simplify and accelerate the delivery of these services while strengthening last-mile governance across the state.

As part of the initiative, citizens will be able to access 20 important government services in both Gujarati and English through a single WhatsApp number directly from their mobile phones, without visiting government offices or navigating multiple online portals.

The services to be made available through WhatsApp include grievance redressal, income certificates, caste and EWS certificates, ration card updates, revenue records and official affidavits.

According to the state government, the platform will make the process of availing government services easier, faster and more transparent. Real-time tracking of applications and service requests will also be enabled, while additional services are expected to be integrated into the platform in phases in the coming months.

Officials said the initiative would particularly benefit common citizens by reducing paperwork, saving time and cost, and making governance more accessible through mobile-based delivery. The government also aims to expand the reach of services in both urban and rural areas through the digital platform.

Currently, government services are being delivered to lakhs of citizens through Jan Seva Kendras in urban areas and Village Computer Entrepreneur (VCE)-based systems in rural regions. With the partnership with Meta, Gujarat is now moving towards the next phase of digital governance focused on end-to-end mobile-based service delivery.

The MoU was signed by Harit Shukla, Secretary, Training and Administrative Reforms Division of the General Administration Department, along with Aman Jain, Director and Head of Policies at Meta, and A. Srinivas, Country Director, in the presence of the Chief Minister.