Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma formally launched the Swagat Satirtha Portal 2.0 at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati on Monday.

This marks a major step towards easing and rationalising the process of mutual transfers for Grade III and Grade IV government employees across the state.

The Swagat Satirtha 2.0 builds on the success of version 1.0, which had received an encouraging response from government employees.

A total of 4,502 applications were approved, facilitating mutual transfers for 9,004 employees from 32 different government departments across the state in the first phase.

The upgraded portal is aimed at further strengthening transparency, accountability and ease of governance, bringing administration closer to the people.

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Addressing the launch programme, Chief Minister Sarma said Assam is the only state in the country to have institutionalised mutual transfers through a fully digital mechanism.

"Other than Assam, no other state has accepted or approved this process of mutual transfers. This step is helpful in many ways. Parents, family members and friends of employees frequently visit the Secretariat and Directorates to exert pressure on officials, creating space for middlemen to operate," Sarma said.

Recalling the origins of the system, the Assam Chief Minister said he had first introduced mutual transfers during his tenure as Education Minister under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, where it proved effective due to a single appointing authority.

In a post on 'X', CM Sarma wrote, "With Swagat Satirtha 2.0, Assam is raising the bar in innovative efforts to promote digital governance and transparency."

"Transfer of government employees must be rule-based, technology-enabled and must not become a tool for rent-seeking," he added.

The revamped portal has been designed to make both application submission and approval processes smoother and more user-friendly.