Industry associations and trade bodies will no longer have to burden themselves with paper correspondence to highlight issues and suggestions related to logistics services to the government as a new user-interactive dashboard will now allow authorized user associations to log-in and lodge issues or suggestions for the government to track and resolve in a transparent manner, said the officials on Wednesday.

The new digital initiative has been started by the Logistics Division, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The new dashboard is being seen as a novel initiative for the industry that will not only allow the division to address issues related to a single Ministry/Department but also multiple ministries/departments.

A user demonstration of the system was organised recently that witnessed the participation of all major industry associations associated with logistics services in India.

In the demonstration, the prototype of the system and its benefits were discussed. This was followed by a detailed demonstration on the dashboard which would bring the industry and agencies closer with a continuous two-way communication that would help in responsive governance.

The initiative is expected to help in the identification of procedural issues that lead to lower efficiency in logistics and higher logistics costs.

Echoing the views of the government, the senior office bearers of all industry associations present for the demonstration welcomed the initiative as a much-needed tool that would significantly reduce the communication gap between trade and the agencies.

“The user interaction dashboard is part of several initiatives being developed by the Logistics Division, DPIIT to address the technology, services, and human resource related aspects of logistics efficiency in the country,” said DPIIT officials.

The dashboard is expected to be launched for all authorised associations in the sector soon.

Senior officials from the Logistics Division have also indicated that to streamline the inter-ministerial coordination of service related issues in logistics, an institutional mechanism such as the Network Planning Group (NPG) under PM GatiShakti is also under consideration. Such endeavours are expected to give a significant boost to India’s logistics efficiency. (ANI)