The Ministry of Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation will roll out a digital portal for all government agencies by September 30, ending the largely paper-based system currently used to process personnel and administrative transactions.
This is according to Minister Zulfikar Ally who made the disclosure during a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) at his Waterloo Street, North Cummingsburg office.
The portal will allow every government agency to communicate with the ministry through a single dashboard, replacing manual processes for administrative matters.
“Whether you are requesting unemployment, whether you’re requesting a renewal of a contract, duty-free scholarships, whatever it may be…it will be done through a portal, and everything will be digitised,” he told the DPI.
The initiative forms part of a broader modernisation drive within the ministry itself, one of the priorities set out by President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali when the ministry’s mandate was expanded to focus on efficiency and modernisation across the public service.
To ensure smooth implementation, Minister Ally said permanent secretaries, human resource managers and personnel department staff are currently being trained ahead of the go-live date.
He added that the shift is expected to significantly reduce processing times, noting that employment approvals and entry into the payroll system, which previously took an extended period, could be completed within one to two weeks once the portal is operational.
“We have managed as a government under the leadership of His Excellency, the president, to do a lot of things when it comes to the digitisation and modernisation of the public service,” the minister further underscored.
The digitisation of the ministry’s records also forms part of the rollout.