In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta launched virtual tour application developed by J&K e-Governance Agency (JaKeGA) yesterday. The application would enable officers to visit remote areas to take stock of the public grievances and developmental activities without necessity of physical visits.<br />''<br />''The virtual tour project introduces a mobile app for remote site inspections by combining the features of video conferencing with location-based virtual interaction. It is transformational in the sense that it enables the officers to have real assessment of all the developmental activities besides holding interaction with public with automated records.<br />''<br />''The application offers a simple procedure to visit remote areas without having to leave the office premises. Officers can explore and inspect sites remotely in real-time and give necessary instructions directly to the field functionaries executing the projects on ground.<br />''<br />''Moreover, the application is AI based that converts recorded observations into text and provides summary of the same also as per the requirements of the user. The application has also been tailored for efficient site inspections, making it distinct from general video calling apps that do not support most of the requisite features desired from such applications.<br />''<br />''The Chief Secretary also launched several competitions of the IT Department for the citizens of the Union Territory to mark the 'Vigilance Awareness Week' on similar lines under the theme "Say No to corruption, commit to the nation".<br />''<br />''Mr Mehta also appreciated very enthusiastic participation of people of Jammu and Kashmir in events related to national unity. He maintained that the participation of more than 11 lakh people in recently concluded UT Foundation Day celebrations is first of such example in the history of J&K. He observed that it is quite extraordinary to know that almost individuals from half of the households of Jammu and Kashmir have participated in such events which in itself speaks volumes about how well people have embraced the positive changes in recent times.<br />