'Expanding the talent base will be central to the success of our IT initiatives'

Jharkhand is the new kid on the block, whether we talk of e-Governance or the
state as the next IT destination. While it tries to woo investors to the state
and charts an e-Governance roadmap, it faces stiff competition from big daddies
such as West Bengal, Orissa, and Assam. Bhaswati Chakravorty of Dataquest
catches up with a very determined RS Sharma, Principal Secretary of the
Department of Information Technology, Government of Jharkhand, who is leaving no
stone unturned to put Jharkhand on the IT map of the East.

Jharkhand is aggressively promoting itself as a hot IT destination of the
East. Given that the state is only around six years old, what are the key
initiatives taken by the government?

We recognize the strategic importance of IT and Communication Technology as
a key component of development. Our vision is to ensure large-scale
socio-economic development, sustained growth and transparency in our government
policies and decisions and enhanced service delivery by effective use of IT.

As part of the vision, we came out with our IT policy in 2004. Our IT policy
has been developed keeping in mind the enhanced opportunities that IT will
unleash over the next decade.

Under Jharkhand's IT Policy, 2004 we will be setting up a well-planned
satellite township or IT Park. The township will have facilities like office
complexes, residential blocks, schools, hospitals and recreation centers. The
complex will be equipped with high speed links to international gateways to take
care of software exports, Internet, training and IT-enabled remote services.

There would be preferential allotment of land for the IT industry;
anti-piracy cell to review piracy cases; creation of venture capital fund with
the state government, private enterprises and SIDBI. All software units,
including services and training, would be given industry status, and special
financial packages will be doled out to the IT industry, among other incentives.

Can you give us five reasons why software companies should consider
setting up facilities in Jharkhand?

We are trying to provide the right kind of ecosystem to attract investment
in IT in the State. Five points: one, we are offering both fiscal as well as
non-fiscal incentives. Two, the STPI at Ranchi is nearing completion and would
soon be able to house IT and ITeS outfits in the State. We are also planning
STPIs at Jamshedpur and Dhanbad. Three, the climate here is very good and can be
compared to Bangalore. Four, the presence of Indian majors such as HEC, Mecon,
Coal Authority of India, etc, provides a cosmopolitan culture that is required
for the IT industry to flower. Five, the cost of living is much lower and
therefore quality talent is available at a much lower cost.

What are the key initiatives taken to facilitate education and human
resource development in the state?

We realize that expanding the talent base will be central to the success of
the IT initiatives of the State. We have drawn up plans to aggressively ramp up
education and HR development. Virtual campuses of reputed overseas universities
will be set up for IT education to establish suitable linkages between the state
and reputed foreign institutions and universities. The State will identify top
three engineering colleges and upgrade all required facilities of the computer
science departments to ensure high standards of IT education, comparable to that
of the IITs.

We also plan to create special institutes for IT education in the lines of
IIITs. These institutes, in addition to regular Bachelors and Masters courses,
will conduct research in software engineering and productivity, and conduct
short-term courses for the industry. Engineering colleges and selected schools
will be linked with specialized IT institutes for distance education: NIC,
private VSAT networks, cable networks, cable TV networks, Internet, wireless
networks to schools, colleges, universities, engineering colleges, and research
organizations to specialized IT institutes.

What are the major functions in the government that the state government
is looking to computerize?

We intend to take appropriate measures to initiate computerization of all
major functions: planning; revenue collection; citizen services such as
registration of documents, births and deaths, ration cards, consumer courts,
employment exchange, welfare schemes, rural development, etc; tourism; fiscal
planning; health; agriculture input management; criminal justice systems; HR
administration and productivity; linking government offices up to the district
level, among others.

We have taken some key initiatives to facilitate e-Governance. Jharkhand
Agency for Promotion of IT (JAPIT), the nodal agency of the department of IT,
will be further strengthened to play an effective role as the main implementing
agency for the IT sector. State level steering committees headed by the Chief
Secretary and consisting of all Secretaries/ Principal Secretary to Government
will be formed to accelerate IT application in all departments. An IT committee
is going to be formed that will act as the agency for implementation and
development of IT in the state. The state government will earmark 1% of the
departmental budgets for computation and training of personnel.

What, according to you, are the key components of a successful
e-Governance project?

Let me first say what according to me do not make a successful e-Governance
project. A successful project is not a translation of processes, but
transformation. A successful project is not standalone computerization, but
networking.

To answer your question, a successful e-Governance project should be
citizen-centric and address requirements and concerns for citizens. Most
importantly, a successful e-Governance initiative should have multiple delivery
points like kiosks, counters, SMS and the Internet.

What is the state government's investment on e-Governance?

Three years back we had a budget of Rs 14 crore. Two years back it was Rs 38
crore and last year, the state government's budget on IT was Rs 60 crore. This
year we are going to get a funding of Rs 200 crore from the NeGP towards
e-Governance, in addition to the Rs 60 crore that the Jharkhand government has
kept aside to drive automation of the government machinery. In addition, as I
have already mentioned, the state government will earmark 1% of the departmental
budgets for computation and training of personnel.

What is Jharkhand's e-Governance roadmap?

We are currently preparing the e-Governance roadmap for the next three
years. We are working in association with PriceWaterhouseCoopers to prepare the
roadmap. The objective is to have a paperless government after three years. We
are currently, looking at department wise computerization.

The e-Governance vision of the Government of Jharkhand is to build a
citizen-centric, inclusive, and development-oriented Information Society, which
strives to use Information and Communication Technology to make available
services and facilities of the government to the common man, with minimum
bureaucratic procedure.

As part of the roadmap, the government has identified certain advantages of
e-Governance from the citizen point of view: IT will empower the citizen by
providing information; IT will engage the citizen towards establishing a healthy
relationship between him and the government and IT will bring transparency in
the Government processes, which would result in improved public image and
credibility of the government.