Chronicles of Sweet Success in Punjab

IT is the new mantra amongst the Indian states. Where is

Punjab placed in this scenario?



Punjab is pretty well placed on the e-governance front. All pre-requisites

for a strong and self-sustaining e-governance regime are in place. So far, we

have been able to establish a strong institutional framework for creation of

infrastructure through the right of way initiative and the ‘public private

partnership model’. Details of policy procedures and guidelines for the

deployment of e-governance have been worked out, priority areas have been

identified and work on these initiatives has already begun. The results have

been very encouraging so far with the improvement in revenue collection by the

excise and taxation department. Also, the punjabsewa.gov.in portal offers almost

300 services to citizens.

No technology can be successful unless it is useful to the

masses. How will the Punjab government initiative benefit the man on the street?



The government has chalked out a comprehensive action plan and strategy to

implement and promote IT for the masses in line with the recommendations of the

ministry of IT, Government of India. The Government of Punjab plans to use

multiple delivery channels at the front end in the shape of privately managed IT

kiosks right down to the block level. At the back end, the data base servers and

application servers would be owned by the state and technically maintained by

the respective departments on an outsourcing basis. Ultimately, a data-center

consisting of the database and application servers to be shared by all

government agencies would be established under the ‘public private partnership

model’.

Punjab announced its IT policy in July 2001. Don’t you

think this was a very late reaction to the changing scenario?



In fact, Punjab was the first state to come out with a formal policy on

computerization (as IT was known during that time) in the year 1991. However, as

the state was reeling under terrorism during those days, the momentum required

for e-governance was lost. In 1998, the Punjab government came up with its

ambitious information technology policy framework based on the recommendations

of an IT Vision Group comprising IT experts of international repute. It was also

in line with the recommendations of the ministry of information technology,

Government of India. We have for been working towards implementing many of the

deliverables that were announced in 2001. Hence our IT policy is a

comprehensively revised policy incorporating the lessons learnt from our own

experience and the experiences of other states.

Do you think the government, the industry and the citizens

can work together towards the common goal of an e-Punjab?



The basic objective of our IT policy is to ensure exactly this–a seamless

interface between the government, the industry and the citizens. These are the

three major stakeholders boosting the economy of the state. We have already

worked out a detailed action plan to establish the interface between these chief

stakeholders, which clearly aims at overall improvement of the state’s

economy. Our mandate is to create high value employment in the state, develop

Punjab as the country’s most favored industry destination, empower citizens

through public-centered efficient governance, thereby making it globally

competitive. In short, we are aiming for a ‘smart and intelligent’ state.

What does the policy offer industry/citizens?



The Punjab Government’s vision of e-governance is to use IT to provide a

friendly, convenient, transparent, efficient and cost effective interface

between the citizen, the business community and the government. For this, we

have already identified four thrust areas–infrastructure development,

electronic governance and re-engineering, human resource development and IT

education, and promotion of IT and other industries. To achieve this, we are

coming up with a private public partnership (PPP) policy. This will enable the

government to provide services to the citizens through multiple services and

delivery channels to be established with the technical and managerial

participation of the private sector using a shared infrastructure.

We expect to implement a pilot citizen-IT interface project

within six months in the Fatehgarh Sahib district to provide anytime, anywhere

on-line services to citizens. Such on-line facilities call for the verification

of user identity. We are thus planning to create three authenticated databases

of citizens, property and businesses. We are already working on plans to create

a unified and authenticated citizens’ database in this district on the basis

of a door-to-door survey.

What’s up on the citizens’ database front?



Almost all transactions with the government require a citizen to prove his

identity, the ownership of property as well as his professional credentials. The

documents that verify these are typically pre-defined transactions with agencies

like the state electricity board, municipal corporation and transport

department. If the process of acquiring these documents is automated, the delays

in getting such work done will be cut down by 80%. Key services include

dissemination of information, billing, handling complaints and grievances,

licenses and approvals, certificates, financial transactions or procurements.

Therefore the citizens’ database, property database and business database

along with the departmental databases like Punjab State Electricity Board, old

age pensions, food and civil supplies or transport would cover almost all

services being provided by the government to the citizens and businesses. The

creation of these three authenticated databases will be at the core of our

e-governance strategy.

While Punjab already has the business database in the form of

master dealer files (MDF) with the department of excise and taxation, the

citizens’ database would take some time. We first need to complete the pilot

project at Fatehgarh Sahib, the proforma for which has already been finalized.

Funds for the door-to-door survey has also been allocated to the deputy

commissioner (DC).

SHUBHENDU PARTH in

New Delhi