“Breaking the government’s monopoly is necessary to empower people and e-inclusion is a means to do that,” said Chanchal Kumar, secretary to Bihar chief minister. Kumar has been credited with initiating ‘Jankari’ call centres in the state wherein technology has been used to facilitate information through RTI.

Telling about the Jankari initiative, Kumar said that Jankari call centres are essentially information providing centres where a citizen can call and tell his problem to the call centre executive who then can identify the department and officials concerned and take over the matter from there for persuasion. One phone number — 155311 — is used across the state, he said, adding that the amount for filing RTI, which is Rs10, is charged on the call itself, solving the problem of separate transaction for the purpose.

This information inclusion, Kumar says, has not only empowered people but it also has reduced the time and amount of money spent in filing an RTI query or visiting a government department located in a tehsil.

Kumar also lauded the Bihar public service guarantee scheme where services are delivered in a time bound manner and in electronic mode. “e-Inclusion will be successful when people will be able to access financial institutions – which is Bihar government’s motto,” Kumar said.