Hyderabad: Odisha Government was honored with the Technology Sabha Excellence Award for its Ama Sathi Unified WhatsApp BOT. Shri Surendra Kumar Meena, Executive Director of the Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative (CMGI) received the award.
In fact Odisha’s digital landscape is witnessing a profound shift toward radical accessibility, moving beyond traditional web portals to meet citizens where they are already present.
At the heart of this evolution is a commitment to citizen-centric governance, a philosophy that prioritizes the lived experience of the common man over bureaucratic complexity.
By integrating essential public services into daily digital habits, the state is redefining what it means to be a responsive and inclusive government in the modern era.
This vision of governance at the doorstep was recently validated on a national stage. On 27th February 2026, the Odisha Government was honored with the Technology Sabha Excellence Award for its Ama Sathi Unified WhatsApp BOT.
This prestigious recognition, presented by Express Computer of the Indian Express Group at Trident Hyderabad, highlights the state’s success in leveraging familiar technology to solve complex administrative hurdles.
Shri Surendra Kumar Meena, Executive Director of the Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative (CMGI), accepted the award on behalf of the Government of Odisha.
Shri Meena embodies the modern “innovative mandarin”—a public servant who moves beyond traditional administrative oversight to act as a chief architect of digital transformation.
His leadership at the Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative (CMGI) has been defined by a departure from the “build it and they will come” mindset. Instead, he has championed a user-first philosophy that treats citizens not just as beneficiaries, but as active participants in a digital ecosystem.
The Ama Sathi initiative exemplifies the government’s strategy to dismantle barriers to entry, allowing citizens to bypass physical office visits and cumbersome multi-app installations in favor of a single, intuitive interface.
Speaking on the impact of the platform, CMGI Chief Shri Meena emphasized that the goal is to make government services more inclusive and responsive. By utilizing WhatsApp—a tool already woven into the social fabric of the state—the government has effectively closed the gap between the administration and the public.
This approach ensures that even those with basic digital literacy can navigate the complexities of public services with ease and confidence.
The Technology Sabha Excellence Awards are widely regarded as a benchmark for innovation in India’s governance landscape. Winners are selected through a rigorous evaluation by a jury of industry experts and senior leaders who look for scalability and long-term sustainability.
Odisha’s triumph in this arena reaffirms its status as a leader in digital transformation, proving that when technology is guided by empathy and a citizen-first mindset, it becomes a powerful engine for trust and transparency.