The night navigation mobile application was developed by the transport department. (File)
The first night navigation mobile application in rivers in the country was launched for ferries on Brahmaputra river in Assam on Saturday, an official spokesperson said.
The inaugural night journey of an Inland Water Transport ferry fitted with the system sailed between Guwahati and North Guwahati at 9 pm and completed the return journey also in about an hour.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ceremonially launched the system during the day, the spokesperson said.
The night navigation mobile application was developed by the transport department in association with K Raju, the principal scientist of IIT Madras and will survey the draft of the rivers, the spokesperson said.
The Chief Minister also launched ten Aadhar-based contactless services of the department as part of its efforts to make public service delivery efficient and hassle free, an official release said.
These services are expected to reduce footfalls at district transport offices (DTOs) by about four lakh annually, it said.
Speaking at the programme Sarma said efforts are on in Assam to minimise the compliance burden of the common people in obtaining government services in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and the online services are a step in that direction.
By gradually phasing out offline application and service delivery in the transport department, DTOs would become free to focus on enforcement of rules and regulations, it added.
Applauding the transport department for earning approximately Rs 800 crore revenue despite the pandemic last year, Sarma said it is one of the top performing departments in the last nine months since his government assumed power.
The Chief Minister also launched e-ticketing system for Dhubri and Silchar ferry services at the same programme.
An MoU was also signed between the Common Service Centres under the ministry of information technology and transport department for facilitating people at the panchayat level to avail the online services, the release said.
A total of 13,568 CSCs in Assam will enable people to obtain online services of the department, it said.
The ten services launched by the department on Saturday are six Vahan software-based services relating to vehicles and four Sarathi software-based services relating to driving license.
The transport department had launched three online Aadhar-based services last year - applying learner's driving license from home, renewal of driving license and issue of duplicate driving license.
A total 4,52,000 people have been able to obtain learner's license through online mode till now since the launch of the service, the statement said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)