Bhubaneswar: The Odisha govt on Wednesday implemented the Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System (OSWAS) across all 115 urban local bodies in the state, ushering in a major shift from paper-based administration to a unified digital workflow system.Officials said the housing and urban development department took the reformative measure to cover all five municipal corporations, 48 municipalities and 62 notified area councils, creating a common platform for end-to-end digital management of official files. The system, developed in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services, is being implemented with technical support from the Odisha Computer Application Centre.“OSWAS will modernise urban governance. The system brings transparency, speed and accountability into everyday administration and empowers urban local bodies to deliver better and faster services to citizens. It reflects our commitment to building efficient and technology-driven institutions for a Viksit Odisha,” housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said.Officials said the statewide rollout is aimed at improving efficiency, accountability and transparency in municipal administration, which was long affected by manual file movement, non-standardised workflows, weak monitoring systems and dependence on physical records. These gaps often led to delays and inconsistencies in service delivery.Additional chief secretary Usha Padhee said the introduction of OSWAS across all urban local bodies marks a paradigm shift in municipal governance. “The initiative is not merely a technology intervention but a comprehensive process reform that standardises workflows and enables real-time monitoring,” she added.Officials said an experiment was carried out before the statewide expansion, while continuous monitoring and feedback systems were built in for further optimisation.They said a key feature of OSWAS is its real-time dashboard for tracking file movement and pendency, giving officials at both state and local levels immediate visibility into administrative processes. The platform will now reduce delays, improve supervisory oversight and strengthen interdepartmental coordination.
