NEW DELHI, April 25: The Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) of India has been recognised as future-ready governance best practices from across the Commonwealth at a key meeting in London, an official statement issued on Thursday said.
In the outcome statement of the meeting issued on Wednesday, the Commonwealth Secretariat shared with member countries the CPGRAMS of India, the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (CVRS) and identity management systems of Namibia, Human Resource Management and E-Citizen models of Kenya as “future-ready governance best practices from across the Commonwealth”.
“The Commonwealth Secretariat has recognised Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) of India as a best practice in Commonwealth Secretaries of Public Service/Secretaries to Cabinet meeting that took place from 22 to 24 April, 2024 in Marlborough House, London,” said the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
A presentation on the CPGRAMS — which allows citizens to raise grievances online against government departments — was made by V Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on April 23 and received commendation from Commonwealth Member countries as a global best practice, it said.
“The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Ms Patricia Scotland KC, said ‘CPGRAMS is a state-of-the-art grievance redressal system and a best practice of SMART government. The Commonwealth’s remaining 1.2 billion citizens can benefit from the adoption of the technology platform in the same way India’s 1.4 billion citizens have benefited’,” the statement said.
The theme of the meeting was ‘Institutionalisation of SMART government to enhance public service delivery’ with focus on adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in governance.
The forum brought together Commonwealth Heads of Public Service, Secretaries to Cabinet, Senior Public Officials, industry champions and eminent scholars, the statement said.
The primary objectives of the meeting were to share contemporary knowledge, ideas and experiences on how technology could be leveraged to support provision of e-services for optimal service delivery and achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development across the Commonwealth.
It was also aimed at sharing select relevant case studies of some member countries and to identify opportunities for possible partnership and collaboration, it said.
“It was observed that there is currently greater appreciation of the importance of digital government, which has added impetus on the roll out of e-services across many jurisdictions. Indeed, there is notable improvement in the way that public services are being delivered, through reliance on secure, inclusive and sustainable information and communication technologies that are data-driven,” the statement said.
Appreciating the papers and country studies presented by the delegates from Rwanda, Kenya, India and Namibia, the delegates noted the forum remains an important platform for networking and for sharing knowledge, expertise and ideas on public service management, it added.
“Member countries also noted that AI has potential for future-ready governance institutions and agile governments to enhance efficiency to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and spur growth and development, by in particular, improving access to education, healthcare, clean water, energy, and to combat climate change, poverty, and hunger,” the statement said.
They also welcomed the work of the Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CAIC), which is providing critical leadership across policy, capacity building, research and innovation, data and infrastructure domains, for the adoption of AI across the Commonwealth, especially in small states, it added.
The member countries also identified the AI consortium as the platform to lead the way in capacity development work on SMART government to be effectively used for efficient redress of public grievances, improving service delivery, strengthening integrity systems and ushering in procurement reforms, the statement said.
The meeting agreed and endorsed creation of a community of practice for Commonwealth Heads of Public Service to enhance sharing of knowledge and experiences.
It also agreed to sharing future-ready governance best practices from across the Commonwealth such as the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) of India, the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (CVRS) and identity management systems of Namibia, Human Resource Management and E-Citizen models of Kenya, shared at the meeting, amongst others, with member countries. (PTI)
