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Follow UsAnd rather than stop at that, he announced central outlays for adoption of IT by state governments, exhorting members of both Houses of Parliament, as well as chief ministers of all Indian states, to earmark 3% of annual state budget outlays for IT-enablement of processes–both
people-facing and internal. Five years down the line, the detractors are out
with lists of promises unkept, of monies unspent and projects delayed, postponed
or waylaid, of implementations not coming up to notch, or having gone online
much too late… But there’s also a long list of projects that have made their
mark, of ‘joined-up’ initiatives that have eased the flow of information and
smoothened the road, facilitating people-accessing of government departments.
Electronic governance–or e-governance as it has come to be known –can be
defined as giving citizens the choice of when and where they access government
information and services. E-governance is not just about a government website
and e-mail. It isn’t just about service delivery over the Internet. It isn’t
just about digital access to government information or electronic payments.
E-governance is an all-powerful tool that is changing how citizens relate to
governments, much as it changes how citizens relate to each other. It is
bringing forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of needs and
responsibilities. E-governance is allowing citizens to communicate with the
authorities and participate in policy-making, as also helping citizens
communicate with each other. E-governance holds the potential to truly be part
of governance, reflecting their true needs and welfare by utilizing infotech as
a tool… if the tool is used right.
While e-governance could have very laudable objectives and ambitious work
plans, these have to be weighed in terms of available resources. Ongoing
projects can be made more cost- and value-effective with the use of IT in a
modulated fashion without any critical incremental costs. The government and the
private sector have to work in harmony to utilize resources in an optimum manner
and provide value-added services to citizens. By themselves, delivery channels
can bring in little in terms of better service, unless it is made economically
viable. The electronic governance wave has started moving. Change in the mindset
of the people–particularly those in decision-making positions–is important
because it is they who provide the leadership. Once this is done, the
corresponding trickle-down effect will be felt more strongly through the
spectrum of government.
In the first part of a special feature, Dataquest takes a look at some
projects that have survived the test of time and bureaucratic red-tape, projects
that have outlived public cynicism and governmental opposition, projects that
have reached out and made a difference…
Gyandoot
Gyandoot is a unique form of Government to Citizen e-commerce activity being
performed in Central India, wherein the local elected governing council
(District Panchayat, Dhar) is enabling over half a million rural tribal citizens
affordable access to various government and market related needs through
economically viable state-of-the-art Information Technology.
Gyandoot is an intranet in the tribal district of Dhar in Central India. It
is a community-based, highly cost-effective and financially self-reliant
approach to bringing the benefits of Information Technology to the doorsteps of
tribal villagers.
Bhoomi
Karnataka’s e-governance initiative, through which it has started
computerizing the 17-million-odd land records throughout the State. The project,
the first of its kind in the country, aims to empower the farmer. While this may
be a small step for the government, for the farmer, it is nothing short of a
revolution. Instead of being at the mercy of village accountants, a farmer can
now walk into any of the Taluk offices and ask for a printout of his
computerized land record certificate for a mere Rs 15 from the land records
booth. One can also check the details of all land records on the touch-screen
kiosk by inserting a two-rupee coin. These kiosks, installed at the Taluk
office, will provide for a public interface at the land records centre.
Karnataka, with sponsorship from the central government, aims to fight
corruption and boost transparency in land record administration through Bhoomi.
The computerization of the records, which began last year, is in full swing in
the State. It is nearly complete in about 70 of the 177 taluks and is expected
to be fully in place by September.
Panchmahals
Villagers of Panchmahals, Gujarat now travel only to their nearest STD/ISD
kiosk to obtain their ration cards or sanction for old age pension. Gujarat
Online Ltd (GOL) completed the networking of the entire state of Gujarat in
record time. They will operate and maintain it for the state and after eight
years will transfer the reigns to the state government for a token fee of Re 1
the portal, mahitishakti.net is indented to provide a single window to
all-relevant information and services on almost all aspects of government and
its future plans.
Ushering in the IT revolution to villages where more than 70% of the Indian
population lives, is a dream that has come true at Warna in the Kolhapur
District of Maharashtra. The special IT Task force set up by the Prime Minister
recommended modernizing the cooperative movement through use of state-of-the-art
Information technology. This led to the "Wired Village" project
initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office. The key objective of the project is
to demonstrate the effective contribution of an IT infrastructure to the
socioeconomic development of a cluster of 70 contiguous villages around Warna
Nagar in the Kolhapur and Sangli Districts of Maharashtra.
Friends
It is the acronym for Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient, Network for
Disbursement of Services. It is a unique IT project taken up by the Government
of Kerala, to take the benefits of Information Technology to the common man. It
is a "Single Window Scheme" in which the consumer is given the option
of paying for the common services rendered to him under a single roof. The major
aspect of this concept is to treat the citizen who is paying for the services
rendered to him as a valued customer who must be given all the respect that he
richly deserves.
To put it simply, FRIENDS is a multiple agency bill collection system. As per
the prevailing system, the customers/ consumers/clients are issued a Bill/Demand
Notice by the concerned agency providing services, based on which the various
regional/sectional offices of the agency collect the payment. The FRIENDS
project envisages facilitating the collection of various payments pertaining to
payees within specified area limits like corporation municipality etc at a
single centre.
MP land records
It has been concluded in Madhya Pradesh with the completion of data entry,
of land records in almost all the villages of the State. Land records have been
computerized in the State following which farmers are now being provided the
computerized copies of the Government documents like kharsa. The computerization
of land records has been completed after nine years of hard work. Of the 55,897
villages in the State, the data entry work of land records has already been
completed in 55,677 villages. Along with computers, all the necessary equipment
has been installed in all tehsils of the State. The pilot project for
computerization of land maps has already been completed. The tables of
agriculture computing, weather and crop reports, information of rainfall, cattle
census, minor irrigation projects, statements of land settlement, tables of land
inspection works of patwaris for scientific scrutiny etc have also been
computerized.
Smart department
In a bid to remove doubts on the Smart Card Scheme, introduced by the
Transport department in Madhya Pradesh, officials of the department looked at
grievance redressal of participants of the 45 districts, who were present at the
district Setcom center. There is great curiosity among people towards the
recently launched Smart Card scheme of the State Government and they are eager
to know the various implications of the scheme. Representatives of the district
administration transport department and public representatives also participated
in the discussions. The program was expected to remove the confusion among the
people about the Smart Card. The Smart Card Scheme of the department has been
implemented in Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Indore, Ujjain, and Dewas districts.
E-agriculture
The next in line, the Agriculture Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mahendra Singh
has announced the ‘e agriculture marketing’ scheme for effective marketing
of agriculture produce in the State. As per the scheme, all mandis and
interstate check post would be connected to seven regional offices and
mandiboard headquarters through computers and the BOT (build, operate and
transfer) formula would be adopted for this purpose. Singh said that the scheme
would benefit both farmers and traders. Besides, the trader would get all
documents from one place. Singh said that the Agriculture department has signed
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of
Information Technology. He added that initially some mandis would be selected as
model for the project and they would be linked through computers.
Ration becomes smart…
In January, Kerala achieved a unique feat by launching the first smart
ration card. For the citizens, a smart ration card may not be of much help but
it certainly helps the administration prevent hoarding, black marketing and
pilferage of PDS goods into the open market. The larger objective is to set up a
citizen database using the information on ration cards.
Buses adopting IT
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), is now implementing an
ASP-based business transaction model, Venus, whereby 83 depots and five service
depots of KSRTC are linked through a web server. Programmed on visual basic
riding on SQL servers, Venus integrates collection, inventory, fuel, payroll,
accident, and accounting details on a daily basis and will be available for
analysis/batch processing at the head office. Many schedules are cancelled for
want of tyre cards. As many as 500 tyres get punctured every day but the
repaired tyres cannot be used unless its tyre card which is with the respective
bus depot is send on time. At present, it may take a week to get the tyre card.
Now the tyre cards can be generated electronically from any depot by feeding the
required information on website. Keltron was assisting KSRTC with inventory
control and MIS. Later, KSRTC decided to do it in-house. In 1988, KSRTC took up
centralized vehicle management and in 1995 one of the depots was made online for
waybill, ticket collection and accounting.
Glorified typewriters…
Keltron is involved with most of the e-governance projects in the state. The
most ambitious project is the‘ e-shringala‘, the community information
kiosks being set up in all the panchayats in Kerala. The kiosks are designed to
provide information of various schemes, downloading of applications, farmer
counseling, online SSI unit registration etc. This is launched with the
involvement of panchayats and local bodies.
Hot Projects>>>>
Urban Development Analytical Network
(Implementing Agency: MBT)
As a step towards entering the next century, the department of urban
development, Government of Maharashtra, required a total solution for
computerization of its processes thus providing quick service to the public in
general & particularly to other connected departments and bodies for showing
greater transparency in its working.
Computerization of the Environment Department
The Department of Environment, Government of Maharashtra (GoM) governs the
pollution control activities and biological resource protection within the state
of Maharashtra. The main job of the environment department is to ensure
environment protection, which is achieved in conjunction with the Maharashtra
Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
Responsive Administration Information Network
(Implementing Agency: MBT)
The Pune Collectorate is responsible for public administration of Pune district
in Maharashtra State. The customer requirement was to provide a turnkey solution
for the development of a new, fully integrated, computerized system covering
administrative function of the Collectorate.
Public Grievance Redress Monitoring System
Implementing Agency: NIC
The system developed by NIC uses the latest state-of-the-art technology that
facilitates any citizen with Net access to file his grievance to the Directorate
of Public Grievances.
Status: Completed
Rural Soft
(Implementing Agency: NIC)
This system enables monitoring of various aspects of development schemes
implemented up to the district level.
Status: Completed.
Land Records Information System
(Implementing Agency: NIC)
A package has been developed for the Sikkim Government for implementing online
mutation of Land Records.
Status: Completed
Touch-screen Kiosks
(Implementing Agency: Shonkh, Bangalore)
Smartcards and Touch-screen Kiosks act as major inputs for various applications
for e-governance and other commercial aspects.
Status: The Gujarat Government has agreed to use the Smartcard for RC book
and driving license
Integrated Commodity Procurement Management
(Implementing Agency: TCIL)
The software developed by TCIL connects the five main centers of HAF to monitor
procurement, storage, processing and marketing of agriculture produce in the
state.
Status: Completed
Automatic Mail Processing
(Implementing Agency: TCIL)
Description: Automatic integrated mail processing centers for Department of Post
ensures that processes of mail sorting, facing, canceling, and bundling is made
faster in the circles of Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore.
Status: Completed
Gujarat State-wide Area Network
(Implementing Agency: TCIL)
GSWAN is a State Wide Area Network, selection of hardware and customized
software apps supporting Voice Video & Data for information dissemination
from various ministries, government departments and offices.
Status: On schedule
Computerization of Treasuries
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
CMC’s scope of work encompasses the entire functionality of treasury operation
including payment order generation and cheque printing.
Status: CMC’s software development job, a critical part of the project, was
completed in 1999
Software for hotel reservation and bookings for
hotels in UP
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: This is a turnkey solution for hotel reservation and operation,
package tour management, tourism information, finance and personnel.
Status: On schedule
Letters and Files Tracking System
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: File tracking system for the various departments of the government
is being envisaged in this project to smoothen the flow of information flow
within the various government departments.
Status: On schedule
Software for Excise Collection and Monitoring of
Liquor Production
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: The project aims to make the process of decision-making easier by
proper collection and analysis of data from the various rungs of administration
to the head office level.
Status: On schedule
Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Information System
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: This hybrid network of radio based and dial-up communication
integrated with statewide fibre optic network aims to provide the irrigation
related information to the farmers.
Status: On schedule
Computer-aided Administration of Registration
Department
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: This project enabled the registration process to be taken
completely online, thereby cutting down on cycle time dramatically.
Inter-departmental transactions were also speeded up.
Status: Completed in November, ’98
Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Campus Network
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
Description: This project enabled the various units within the secretariat to be
connected through a network so that smooth transactions take place for the intra
as well as inter department level work.
Status: Job Completed in six months–in July 1998
Ministry of Tourism
(Implementing Agency: TCS)
Most of the websites related to Tourism dispense information to the Tourist of
any particular location without taking into account, the needs and desires of
the tourist. This is an attempt on part of TCS to address this particular issue.
Status: This has been developed for the Maharashtra State Govt
Andhra Pradesh WAN Consultancy
(Implementing Agency: CMC)
This project would enable the state secretariat to be linked up with every
department in Andhra Pradesh and also to the 23 district headquarters through
facilities of data, video & voice communications.
Status: Completed in January 1999
Voucher Level Computerization
(Implementing Agency: TCS)
Voucher Level Computerization System for Offices of the Accountant General
(A&E)
Status: This has been developed for Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Gujarat (Rajkot,
Ahmedabad), Maharashtra (Mumbai, Nagpur), Tamil Nadu (Chennai) and Uttar Pradesh
(Allahabad & Lucknow) The VLCC comprises of 5 phases. The first three have
been implemented (awaiting acceptance) in the 5 states. The remaining two phases
are on schedule.
IS for Sales Tax Department
(Implementing Agency: TCS)
Description: The system is designed to facilitate electronic business such as
web filing of returns and payment of taxes. Most application forms will be
available on the web, which can be downloaded and used
Status: This has been developed and deployed for the Sales Tax Department in
Maharashtra
Yesterday’s Late Starters are Today’s Fastest Movers
There are states that may have been slow off the mark to clamber aboard the
e-governance bandwagon, but having joined the race, it is moving along at great
speed. E-governance can be the next great Indian revolution. Beyond the hype,
however, is a growing movement in India and other Asian countries to experiment
with government-by-Internet. However, the current e-government mantra–focused
on digital divides, killer applications and budget savings–misses the more
compelling questions: Will e-government transform how government interacts with
the populace or serve as a convenience for busy citizens and civil servants? Are
we on the threshold of a digital democracy or merely heading towards constant
policy-by-polling? If we look at the states offering e-governance solutions
within India then perhaps the name of Andhra Pradesh will come as a
front-runner. Powered by Sun Microsystems, the AP government has deployed a
project ‘e-COPS’ wherein a much needed interface has been created between
the citizens and the police department.
eCOPS is up and running in all the four pilot locations i.e. Hyderabad,
Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Srikakulam District. Ranga Reddy District is
expected to be completed by the end of February ’03. Though the facility to
actually file an FIR online is not available as of now, the department is going
to provide it soon. The project will be implemented initially in 279 locations
as a pilot project, covering three Commissionerates of Police (Hyderabad,
Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam), Srikakulam District, one Andhra Pradesh special
police battalion, one police training college and office of director
general of police.
Criminal database
The platform provider Sun has provided AP State police multiple E450 (type
of Sun Server) servers to run this project across the state. Criminals trying to
hoodwink the cops beware–the AP police have a computerized databank of
criminals. The AP police is developing a databank of listed offenders in all
criminal cases reported in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam, and Srikakulam
district. During the last six months, the department has generated information
on 11,000 people accused in various cases in Hyderabad alone, while it collected
data on 4,000 other offenders listed in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and
Srikakulam.
This system enables the officers to gather more details about the offenders
and enables them to extract the needed information efficiently and accurately.
At the same time as far as the police department is concerned not much has
changed and there are a lot of people who still don’t know anything about
computers and it will take sometime before benefits from initiatives like this
can be reaped to the full.
This software is being integrated with the existing computerized fingerprint
database of listed criminals. The police computer services has the largest
number of computerized fingerprints–2.64 lakh criminals–which enables the
state police to solve crimes more effectively.
The Kolkata experience
The Traffic Police of Kolkata has introduced a novel service to have a
better interaction between the citizens and the police. The SMS based
interaction service allows people to interact with the traffic police easily.
"If anybody wants to report anything to us, all they need to do is to key
in the message and SMS it to us and we will take care of the matter. So far this
solution has helped us a lot in bridging the divide between the police and the
public. Anyone can dial 9830098100 to make a complaint, and on an average we get
more than 20 complaints a day since it was launched in October. People are now
more open with us," says MK Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police at Kolkata.