Bihar, the state that faced continuous ridicule due to a bad image acquired on account of various factors, has taken its first step in a long journey to be counted among progressive states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and others.

This has been made possible by the seriousness the present regime has shown toward improving and creating an atmosphere that is conducive for companies to set up offices in the state and tap the available talent pool. Improving the image of Bihar through good governance was the plank on which the Nitish Kumar government came to power. Credit certainly goes to the government for making efforts to create a positive image through improvement in law and order, construction of roads, and putting in place a roadmap for the improvement of the power situation in the state, which has lost several power plants to Jharkhand.

Initial Steps
Bihars chief minister, Nitish Kumar retained the Minister of IT portfolio after assuming power. Though he was serious about improving IT in Bihar, due to multiple roles, he could not devote much time in the initial years. His priorities then was to improve basic infrastructure, which is the very foundation for any concrete IT operation. Once some order got restored on the law and order front, and visible changes started to appear in terms of improvement in infrastructure, the government decided to set up a separate IT department in April 2007. Till then it used to be a part of the Department of Science and Technology.

Also, till sometime back there was no full time IT secretary. It was only in April 2008 that Alok V Chaturvedi took over as the IT secretary, and is now spearheading the IT initiatives of the Government of Bihar. According to Alok V Chaturvedi, secretary, IT, Govt of Bihar, Bihars State Wide Area Network, which is the core of IT infrastructure through all Government of India schemes, has seen a fast rollout and is documented on Ministry of ITs DIT website.

Laudable Initiatives
Two projects that have made some headway in terms of implementation are the treasury management information system, and the VAT management information system. These are supported by the state data center, being set up in Technology Bhawan. Other activities include the Bihar state wide area network (BSWAN) and common services center. Also, other projects will get rolled out in due course.

Another laudable initiative is a 50:50 JV company called Bihar e-Governance Services and Technology (BeSt), with Beltron and ILF&S as participating entities. Beltron and ILF&S are official consultants for the Government of Bihar, and have saved a lot of time and effort for the government in terms of finding consultants for projects. They are a single interface for preparation of RFPs and tendering. This, according to Alok V Chaturvedi, will help the government attract good quality hardware and software vendors.

On the technical education front, the biggest news has been the setting up of an IIT near Bihta in Patna. The government is also in the process of acquiring the ownership and reviving three defunct private engineering colleges from the current academic calendarsurely a laudable step.

Key Concerns
All companies have shown interest in moving beyond metros and tapping talent pools in unexplored areas. And it is needless to say that Bihar can provide such a pool. But the Bihar government has to seriously address and provide a no-nonsense assurance to IT companies by putting in place a single window transparent mechanism. This will help companies get official clearances faster. Also, the law and order situation, which has seen tremendous improvement, has to improve further.

Assuring the companies to consider Bihar as one their destinations, Dr Anil Kumar, Minister of IT, Government of Bihar told Dataquest, Our first priority after coming to power was to create an atmosphere which would be conducive for companies to consider setting up facilities in Bihar. The change that has taken place in Bihar is refreshing, and the environment has also improved. Things seem to be progressing under the guidance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and above all the law and order situation has improved tremendously and the fear factor has disappeared.

Another important area that requires improvement and does not concern the Bihar government is the support of BSNL, the only telecom bandwidth provider in the state. BSNL Bihar should provide the same level of support to improve the state governments requirement of bandwidth as seen in states like Haryana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Private operators like Airtel, Reliance, and Tata have uptill now stayed away from fixed line services for reasons not difficult to guess.

From being a laggard in IT, we are at the top of DITs pyramid Alok V Chaturvedi, secretary, IT, Government of Bihar talks to Dataquest on Bihar governments key achievements in the last three years. Excerpts

Alok V Chaturvedi, secretary, IT, Government of Bihar Can you give an overview of the current state of IT in Bihar? Bihar was almost at the bottom of the list in terms of e-readiness three years back, along with other states considered laggard in terms of IT implementation. Bihars State Wide Area Network, which forms the core IT infrastructure according to the Government of India scheme, has seen a fast rollout. This has been documented on the Ministry of ITs DIT website. Bihar is at the top of the pyramid on the CSC (common cervices center) front. Some states considered advanced in terms of IT are now behind us. This is a big change for us. An important decision was making Beltron a state procurement organization, which has helped us a lot. The advantage is two foldone is the volume and the second is quick decision-making. So we quickly finalized the tender. With this, the tendering process has become very professional. What is the status on Bihars IT policy? We have put up the policy on the Government of Bihar website and have asked for suggestions/comments from the industry. It is available at http://gov.bih.nic.in/Documents/Draft_IT_Policy_2008.pdf. We hope the policy is finalized by July 2008. What is the government doing to improve technical education in the state? The Technical Education Policy will be announced soon. We want to involve the private sector in running the existing engineering colleges. We are involving ILF&S and other consultants to prepare a guideline for the process of setting up such institutions. There is a 50% relaxation in stamp duty for land registration. We are in the process of finalizing land grants to institutions, which could provide a one-time capital grant of Rs 10-25 crore, but only to deemed or reputed universities. We would also help other private institutions through the policy. Presently, we have two colleges in Bhagalpur and Muzzaffarpur. There were three private colleges that were taken over by the government but never started. We have undertaken repair work and intend to start these colleges this year. We also have plans to start two more engineering colleges in Nalanda (Chandi) and Madhepura. What is the roadmap for SWAN? TCS is the SWAN operator in Bihar, and they have set up their office in Patna. In all, thirty district headquarters are connected and fifty blocks are also connected. Overall, one state headquarter, 37 district headquarters, and 95 blocks have to be connected. The target is October 2008, but it can get stretched to December 2008 as well. The project is SLA-based and depends on user feedbacks after its completion. So, we pay based on continued performance evaluation.

The Draft IT Policy 2008 talks about providing single window interface for securing right of way for laying optical fibers and erecting towers. But the government needs to do more than this and proactively invite operators to set up their networks, if not throughout the state then at least in the capital city.

Outlook
From the oft repeated IT YT Kya Hai? to what the present government has achieved, the momentum needs to pick up if Bihar has to catch up with state governments that have taken a lead. The role of the central government assumes importance in several respects, particularly in making Bihar more accessible by air and road. For example, the central government has to undertake a planned modernization of Patna and Gaya airports by 2010. As of now, there are no visible signs of any work, at least at Patna airport. The Ministry of Communication has to direct BSNL Patna to increase its level of commitment toward providing bandwidth to the Government of Bihar for its various projects.

One sincerely hopes that the vision of the Government of Bihar, to be among the top 5 states, in terms of becoming a preferred destination for IT companies, and being a major supplier of skilled IT manpower by the end of 2012 is achieved.

Sudesh Prasad
Sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in

Page(s)   1