Red tape may be synonymous with bureaucracy, but Jammu and Kashmir’s shift to a paperless administration has delivered significant environmental gains. A recent study estimates that the transition has saved the equivalent of planting more than 4.5 lakh trees or permanently removing over 2,200 cars from the roads.
Released on Monday, the study by Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, secretary in J&K’s science and technology department, found that the government’s move from paper-based files to digital systems has helped prevent over 62,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The research, published in the Journal of Research in Environmental and Earth Sciences, provides one of the first scientifically grounded assessments of the environmental impact of digital public administration in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
According to the study, digitisation has eliminated the need for more than 20 million paper pages annually, significantly reducing tree felling and associated pollution. The government formally adopted the e-Office system in 2021, marking what Choudhary described as a turning point in the region’s administrative history.
“The environmental impact has been substantial, with over 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided every year,” Choudhary said. “Since 2021, the transition has prevented the printing of over 405 million pages. That translates into hundreds of millions of sheets that were never manufactured, transported or dumped, and tens of thousands of trees that remain standing.”
The study notes that by mid-2025, more than 26,000 users in the civil secretariat and over 31,000 at the head-of-department level were actively using the e-Office platform, processing millions of files and receipts each year. Physical file movement and in-person correspondence have been replaced by a secure digital ecosystem supported by virtual private networks and more than 1.8 lakh official email accounts.
Drawing on administrative records from 2018 to 2025, along with transport logs and energy consumption data analysed using international methodologies, the research found that nearly 1.15 lakh officials now handle government work entirely online. During this period, they processed about 3.75 million files and 34 million receipts without using paper.
Choudhary said the shift represents a broader rethink of climate action. “Government operations themselves have a significant carbon footprint. When an entire administrative system is digitised—especially in environmentally sensitive mountain regions—the gains are immediate and substantial,” he said.
He added that J&K’s experience could serve as a model for other states, particularly those with difficult terrain. “In hilly regions with fragile ecosystems, digital governance is not just about efficiency. It is an environmental necessity,” he said.
