News-analysis Aditya Madanapalle Nov, 24 2017 13:49:35 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the UMANG application at the Global Conference on Cyberspace on 23 November in New Delhi. UMANG stands for Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance and actually has been available on application stores for over four months now. The app uses a minimalist UI similar to the BHIM app.
UMANG. Image: Tech2
The signup process is pretty simple, users have to first verify their mobile numbers through an OTP, and then set a pin. Two security questions have to be set up so the user can recover their account in case the PIN is forgotten. There used to be a requirement of having to link the app to your Aadhaar number to use it, but this is no longer the case. Instead of registering, users can also login to the service through their Aadhaar number, or accounts on Facebook, Google and Twitter. If users register first, there is an option to link social media accounts after logging in.
The idea of the application is to allow users to install one single application to use all the services offered by the government, instead of having to navigate to multiple websites or install multiple applications. Through this single interface, users may come to be aware of handy services that they might have otherwise not explored or have been aware of.
The process of accessing government services has been simplified and made "mobile first", which is the most common platform available for most users in India to access the internet. Any new digital services by government departments and states will automatically be integrated with the application, and the plan is to eventually enable citizens to access over 1oo government services through this single UMANG app.
While the user gets a single interface in their hands, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. The backend plugs into the different departments under various ministries as well as state governments. According to Modi, the approach will encourage competition between the various departments to provide a better service to the end user. During the launch of the application, he said, "This integrated approach will add an automatic layer of 'peer performance pressure', in the working of these departments."
The application is available in eleven Indian languages apart from English. The languages supported are Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Telugu and Urdu. Initially, users have to pick a language even before signing in or registering in the application, but users can switch languages later, through the settings any time they want.