Initiatives of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to make governance transparent through innovative steps like live webcasting of his office functioning has been appreciated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In a communication to Chandy's office, Practice Director of UNDP's Democratic Governance Group,Geraldine J Fraser-Moleketi said she planned to visit his office in March to learn more about the innovations brought about by him after coming to power last year.

The UN official also hailed the "mass contact programme" launched by Chandy, in which he personally meets thousands of common people and addresses their grievances on the spot, a release issued by the CM's Office said.

"I have accessed media reports about the innovative approach to ensure transparency and accountability in Governance, particularly your decision to web-stream the entire functioning of your office.Your mass contact programme, in many ways, is the first of its kind to ensure the right to direct access to leaders and senior civil servants of the government," she said.

"On visiting your website (http://www.keralacm.gov.in) I was impressed by the 24X7 call centre to the office of Chief Minister and the whistle blowing provisions for combating corruption," she said welcoming the idea box for Vision 2030 as an interesting case of developing an inclusive approach to building shared vision within the society.

"My colleagues have also reported about the new e-governance projects in Kerala. During my tenure as the Cabinet Minister of South Africa and in my present capacity, leading the world-wide democratic governance practise of UNDP, I emphasized the need to promote South-South learning in the area of democratic governance."

She said she believed countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America could be able to learn from the innovative practices in democratic governance in Kerala.

The Democratic Governance Group of UNDP will be interested exploring how best to showcase options for south-south learning from Kerala, the release added.