Panelists in this video:
• Sameer Verma, Managing Director, UPDESCO
• P Uday Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Telangana
• Dr Mukesh Arora, Advisor, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
• Jai Singh, Assistant Director, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
• Kabir Shirgaonkar, Director, Department Of Information Technology, Electronics And Communications, Goa
• Aashish Jain, CFCS, Principal Business Manager – Customer Advisory, SAS Institute (India) Pvt Ltd
• C. J. Antony, Scientist-G and Deputy Director General (DDG), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Government of India
• Srikanth RP, Editor, Express Computer, The Indian Express Group (Moderator)
Key Highlights:
[1] Sameer Verma, Managing Director, UPDESCO:
+ Strong SOPs and process standardisation can enable automation of nearly 95% of routine cases, while only a small percentage may require human intervention or discretionary decisions.
[2] P Uday Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Telangana:
+ Better use of integrated data, accurate identification, and targeted analysis can help governments understand who is being missed, why they are excluded, and how benefits can reach vulnerable and underserved sections more effectively.
[3] Dr Mukesh Arora, Advisor, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India:
+ The success of digital transformation should be measured by how effectively citizens and beneficiaries are able to use the services being created for them.
[4] Jai Singh, Assistant Director, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India:
+ While India has made significant progress in delivering social security and welfare benefits at scale, the focus must now shift to identifying those who remain excluded from support systems and ensuring that no deserving beneficiary is left behind.
[5] Kabir Shirgaonkar, Director, Department of Information Technology, Electronics And Communications, Goa:
+ Integrated citizen-service platforms, digital assistance and chatbots can improve access and reduce exclusion—but strong data privacy, security and responsible data-sharing frameworks are essential to build citizen trust.
[6] Aashish Jain, CFCS, Principal Business Manager – Customer Advisory, SAS Institute (India) Pvt Ltd:
+ Effective social benefit delivery begins with correctly identifying individual needs. Technology and data can help governments move from a generic approach to more targeted, personalised, need-based support.
[7] C. J. Antony, Scientist-G and Deputy Director General (DDG), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Government of India:
+ The focus should be on using digital platforms and data-driven systems not just for digitisation, but to improve operational efficiency, speed up service delivery and create measurable outcomes for citizens and government programmes.