The Maharashtra government on Tuesday partnered with Haptik, a conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform, to launch Aaple Sarkar chatbot that provides information on 1,400 public services.

The bot, available on Aaple Sarkar RTS (Right to Services) website allows citizens to access conversational information regarding public services through digital platforms, the government said in a release.

The Right to Services Act of 2015 mandates that citizens should be able to access information regarding public services through digital platforms. The new chatbot will be another medium through which citizens can get their queries resolved.

The chatbot will simplify the process of searching through the list of service available, it said, adding that the plan is to roll this out in Marathi and Hindi in the near future.

Users can simply search for services like ‘driving license’ to view all the prerequisites for the application process, and then track the status of their application.

Accessing relevant information, collating documents, initiating the application process, monitoring its progress to eventual completion and feedback submission, the RTS portal chatbot handholds the user through every stage of the process.

“In today’s era, the test of true government is provision of services and processing the paperwork with minimum human interference that too in a time-bound manner, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "One should get the desired services or the desired paper processed in a time-bound, transparent and predictable manner without even knowing the person behind the show."

"Technology is the only way we can scale governance and fulfil the aspirations of our young population and we are proud to state that in Maharashtra we have a dedicated portal ‘Aaple Sarkar’ through which more than 400 online services are being provided," he said.