Manamitra WhatsApp platform scaled to deliver public services

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh IT and education minister Nara Lokesh said on Wednesday the Manamitra WhatsApp governance system was born from the expectations expressed by people during his Yuvagalam padayatra.Speaking at Meta's WhatsApp Citizen Engagement and Innovation Forum in Delhi, Lokesh said citizens questioned why govt services could not be delivered as seamlessly as groceries, taxis or entertainment accessed through mobile apps. Those interactions, he said, shaped the commitment to place all major public services on a single phone number after the coalition govt came to power.Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh could scale the platform because the real-time governance department allowed cross-department integration, though persuading departments to open their APIs was a major challenge. He said the state began with high-demand services and shifted gradually towards a conversational, AI-driven model based on the chief minister's directions.Among the first visible outcomes, he said, was the ease with which students could access hall tickets on WhatsApp. Utility payments also saw rapid adoption. The govt now ranks departments based on citizen feedback, which the chief minister reviews weekly. Though citizens rate the service around 8.5 or 9 out of 10, Lokesh said he places it at three because the state must make fuller use of AI.He said the upcoming data lake will anchor predictive and automated services, including integration of records such as birth certificates. Rural users, including farmers, are using WhatsApp to understand eligibility, confirm scheme benefits and file grievances without visiting offices.Lokesh said the state is re-engineering processes to eliminate repeated applications, citing caste certificates as an example.