SMART GOVERNANCE THROUGH MOBILE APPLICATIONS: A CROSS-CITY ASSESSMENT OF CITIZEN-CENTRIC DIGITAL PLATFORMS IN INDIA’S SMART CITIES

Anu Bagul; Rouchi  Chaudhary

doi:10.17323/1999-5431-2026-0-6-8-32

Anu Bagul Central University of Jammu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4582-0419
Rouchi Chaudhary Central University of Jammu https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2362-6937

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/1999-5431-2026-0-6-8-32

Аннотация

The recent and increasing digitalisation of India’s governance framework represents a significant change in its urban development. The Smart Cities Mission is the response to the pressures of urbanisation by transitioning from traditional paper-based legacy models to agile, citizen-centric digital set-ups. This study provides a national-level assessment of how mobile governance platforms are transforming public service delivery and institutional processes across India’s 100 Smart cities. Using secondary datasets drawn from official portals, municipal dashboards, app-store metadata, and the Smart Cities Mission Data Portal, the research evaluates variations in service maturity, accessibility, citizen engagement, and inclusiveness. Anchored in the smart governance and citizen-focused governance frameworks, the analysis shows that cities such as Indore, Bhubaneswar, Pune, and Chennai have developed more advanced, integrated and participatory digital ecosystems, whereas several northern and Tier-2/Tier-3 cities continue to face challenges related to accessibility, multilingual support, and infrastructural limitations. The study argues that the long-term effectiveness of smart governance depends on interoperability, equity-oriented design, strong institutional coordination, and integration with national digital infrastructures. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on digital transformation by offering empirically grounded insights into the governance, technological, and social dimensions shaping citizen-centric innovation in India.

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Биографии авторов

Anu Bagul, Central University of Jammu

Research Scholar, Department of Public Policy and Public Administration

Rouchi Chaudhary, Central University of Jammu

Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Public Administration

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