Swagat: Strengthening citizens' trust in governance over the past two decades

Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], December 31 : Celebrating 22 years of transformative governance, the SWAGAT programme continues to redefine how citizens interact with the state. Originally launched by then-CM Narendra Modi in 2003, the platform has achieved a staggering 99.10% resolution rate.
To bridge the gap between citizens and the government by maximising the potential of technology, the then Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the SWAGAT (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) programme on April 24, 2003. The objective of this programme was simple yet powerful: to enable citizens to present their grievances directly before the highest levels of the government without fear, delay, or procedural obstacles. The scope of the SWAGAT online programme has expanded to districts, talukas, and villages. This initiative, launched by the Prime Minister, is today being effectively managed by Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel. For the past 22 years, the SWAGAT platform has strengthened Gujarat's citizens' trust in the state government. This is evident in that 99.10 per cent of applications received on this platform over the last 22 years have been resolved positively.
Over 99 per cent of applications have been resolved through the SWAGAT platform over 22 years. SWAGAT 2.0 Auto Escalation Matrix system implemented to ensure proper resolution of citizens' grievances within a stipulated time frame, monitoring dashboards created for timely disposal of applications, and performance dashboards developed to assess officials' performance.
The SWAGAT programme, launched by the Prime Minister, was designed as an active, people-centric platform. Under the Chief Minister's leadership, the SWAGAT platform has evolved with the times and technology. Under the guidance of the Chief Minister, the SWAGAT 2.0 Auto Escalation Matrix system was implemented across all districts and departments of the state on December 25, 2024, alongside the launch of the SWAGAT mobile application.
Notably, this system was implemented as a pilot project on December 25, 2023, on the occasion of 'Good Governance Day' for the Revenue and Panchayat Department and the Patan and Kheda districts. Following the launch of the pilot project, of 21,540 applications, 90 per cent were resolved qualitatively within the stipulated timeframe. Following the successful pilot, SWAGAT 2.0 was launched across all districts on the next Good Governance Day, December 25, 2024.
The modern SWAGAT system is built around an automatic escalation framework that ensures grievances do not remain pending at any level. In SWAGAT 2.0, time limits are set to ensure the timely resolution of citizens' issues. The applicant's representation is sent online to the officer directly responsible for grievance redressal. The concerned officer is required to take the necessary action within the stipulated timeframe. Applicants are also kept informed of the status of their grievances via SMS at every stage, from registration through final resolution.
If the concerned officer fails to resolve the grievance within the stipulated time frame, the complaint is automatically escalated to the login of the next higher-level officer upon expiry of the time limit. The higher authority must resolve the grievance, and the superior officer is required to do so. Only after verification that the representation has been satisfactorily and appropriately resolved is it considered finally disposed of. Furthermore, if the applicant is not satisfied with the action taken on their grievance, they can provide feedback and escalate their complaint to the next higher-level officer. It is noteworthy that these applications are also closely monitored by the Chief Minister's Office.
To ensure the timely processing of portal applications, various monitoring dashboards have been developed. In addition, a performance dashboard has been designed to assess officials' performance. Based on these dashboards, information is obtained on the types of representations received in higher numbers across districts, as well as the policy-level changes required based on representations from various districts in the state. Notably, many policy-level decisions have been made through the SWAGAT programme, including those related to farmers, land acquisition, students, encroachment on gauchar land (pasture land), re-survey matters, and policing.
Through the SWAGAT programme, a decades-old issue of farmers in Moddar village of Kutiyana taluka in Porbandar district was resolved. Due to the absence of a bridge over the Sukhbhadar River between Moddar and Pasavari, farmers had to travel an extra 15 km for the past 40 years to reach their fields. In this regard, the applicant, Shri Lakhmanbhai Navghanbhai Modedara, made representations at the taluka and district levels, after which the issue reached the State SWAGAT.
The applicant highlighted the difficulties faced by 118 farmers in carrying out daily agricultural activities on 3,600 bighas of land due to the absence of a bridge. After hearing the representation, the Chief Minister instructed the Secretary, Roads and Buildings Department, and the Collector, Porbandar, to immediately complete the bridge and road works. As a result, a minor bridge, culverts, and a three-kilometre road will be constructed between Moddar and Pasavari for Rs. 9 crore.
To gain an understanding of the SWAGAT online grievance redressal programme, delegations from the offices of Secretaries of the Government of India, as well as Chief Ministers' Offices of various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh, have visited the SWAGAT unit. They sought to understand the system with a view to implementing a similar facility in their respective states.