Lokesh Cites 90-Day Action Plan to Launch ‘Manamitra 2.0’

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government would roll out an upgraded, faster and more user-friendly version of its flagship citizen services platform ‘Manamitra’ within 90 days.

This, even as the government is tightening the screws on alleged irregularities in Andhra University, education minister Nara Lokesh told the assembly on Friday.

Replying to members during Question Hour, Lokesh said the state was currently offering 943 services through Manamitra, with 1.48 crore services delivered to citizens. The services, integrated with WhatsApp and provided free of cost, are being extended through a single phone number on a scale unmatched by any other state, he said.

Adoni MLA P.V. Parthasarathi welcomed the initiative, noting that WhatsApp-based services were saving time and delivered free.

However, he flagged concerns over the app’s slow speed and the need for users to repeatedly enter their personal details. He urged the government to make the platform more accessible, especially for rural citizens, and to adopt a system where data, once entered, need not be re-submitted.

Clarifying, Lokesh said the platform does not store user data. “WhatsApp is only a highway; the data rests with the respective department,” he said, explaining why details must be entered each time.

While services have been digitised, he stressed the need for comprehensive process re-engineering to improve speed, ensure instant receipts and resolve QR code issues.

The minister said the concept of delivering all essential civic services and certificates to citizens at their doorsteps, simply at the click of a button, emerged during his Yuvagalam padayatra. He announced a 90-day action plan to launch Manamitra 2.0 and called upon legislators to share feedback.

A door-to-door awareness campaign would also be undertaken to widen its reach.

Turning to Andhra University, Lokesh alleged that under the previous YSRC term, the institution was reduced to a “party office,” with activists appointed indiscriminately to various posts across government universities over the past five years.

A special manpower audit is now under way and will be completed within 30 days. “Stringent action will be taken against ineligible appointments,” he stated.

On the demand to regularise long-serving contract, daily wage, NMR and the 28-day wage employees by bringing them under the Minimum Time Scale (MTS), the minister said a decision would be taken in consultation with the finance department, after the audit.

Lokesh said a vigilance probe into alleged irregularities by former vice-chancellor Prasad Reddy is in progress, with a report expected in 45 days, after which action would follow.

Citing NIRF rankings, Lokesh said Andhra University slipped from the 29th rank in 2019 to 76th in 2023, but improved the score to 41st after the present government took charge. In the university category, it rose from the 43rd in 2023 to the 23rd in 2025.

The government, he said, now aims to place it in the top 10. Lokesh also assured the house that the university’s centenary celebrations would be conducted on a grand scale. He would review the arrangements during his Visakhapatnam visit.