CHANDIGARH
In a first, Punjab has become among the first states in the country to implement the data policy for providing data-driven robust governance to its citizens.This was shared by the Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan, during an interaction with the World Bank senior functionaries, here on Friday.
The World Bank appreciated the State for implementing reforms which will enhance accountability, responsiveness, and transparency in the delivery of services to citizens through the implementation of the Punjab State Data Policy, notified in December 2020.
The Chief Secretary was holding a virtual review meeting to take stock of the loan being extended by the World Bank Group to the Government of Punjab.The World Bank officials also focused on completing key formalities and assessments under the loan process and discussed aligning key development initiatives of the state government with the climate change resilience agenda.
Besides, the World Bank also appreciated the work undertaken by various departments to improve processes and enhance capacity building for significantly improving the service delivery outcomes.The state official machinery was also complemented for strong efforts taken to further improve gender outcomes and environment.
The Chief Secretary reiterated that the Government of Punjab is committed to work together with the World Bank on matters of climate change resilience, data driven decision making, and building capacity for better governance and more efficient and effective service delivery.The World Bank has taken on board IWWAGE and KPMG to support the state departments under the planned agenda.
Even as the work so far is on track as expected, the Chief Secretary asked the departments, especially Finance, which is the nodal department, to ensure that all timelines related to the project are met with and the project is facilitated smoothly.The Additional Chief Secretary Development Anirudh Tewari, Principal Secretaries Raji P Shrivastava (Social Security and Women and Child Development), KAP Sinha (Finance), Ajoy Kumar Sinha (Local Government) also attended the meeting.
