Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday launched ‘Him Data Portal’ — a digital platform to integrate data of all government wings for the delivery of welfare schemes — developed by the Indian School of Business (ISB).
The portal was launched at the ISB in Punjab’s Mohali during the first Governance Summit organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy of the ISB.
The Summit on ‘governance and technology’ saw a multitude of stakeholders including policymakers, senior functionaries of the State governments of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Central government agencies, think tanks, NGOs, and academicians from various research education institutions come together to deliberate upon governance.
The portal that was developed in collaboration with the Department of Information Technology, Government of Himachal Pradesh, aims to serve as a one-stop platform to provide easy access to more than 200 datasets with all State-specific information available at the highest spatial granularity including block and village-level information.
“Green State” by 2026
In his address, the Chief Minister emphasised the need for all the State government agencies to collaborate, connect, and respond to the needs of the public more efficiently by accessing accurate and real-time data.
“A good government needs good governance. Data and technology drive the agenda of good governance with improved outcomes, ensuring that the benefits of public policies and key decisions are leveraged by the last man on the line. The `Him Data Portal’ will bring valuable data from multiple domains together of various departments thereby helping in visualising patterns, gaps, opportunities, and connections cohesively, which would result in strengthening efficiencies in governance,” he said.
Mr. Sukhu said from July 2023, the Himachal Pradesh government would start the ‘Him Parivar’ project, which would give a special digital identity to the people of the State. “This will strengthen the State’s benefit delivery systems.. Information about essential facilities like ration cards, family registers, electricity, drinking water etc. would be available with a single click through the ‘Him Parivar’ project,” he said.
He also shared his vision for the State to be developed as the “Green State” by the year 2026 and sought collaboration with the Indian School of Business to achieve this goal. Professor Madan Pilutla, Dean at BIPP, Professor Ashwini Chhatre, executive director (BIPP), Dr. Aarushi Jain, policy director (BIPP) were present, among others on the occasion.
“Data and technology drive the agenda of good governance with improved outcomes, ensuring that the benefits of public policies and key decisions are leveraged by the last man on the line”Sukhvinder Singh SukhuHimachal Pradesh Chief Minister