informatics january 2004informatics.nic.in/uploads/pdfs/46149b15_january2004.pdf · 2017-11-16 ·...

Advisory CommitteeDr. N.VijayadityaDr. B.K. GairolaDr. Y.K. SharmaSh. D.P. BobdeSh. M. Moni

Managing EditorNeeta VermaEditorSonal KalraDesign & LayoutMohan Das VSSubhash Kapoor

Print ProductionA K AggarwalAnita Arora

DistributionAnita BhardwajJasvinder Kaur

Editorial CommitteeSh. A. MohanDr. Subir RoyDr. S.C. GuptaSh. D.C. MisraMs. Nandita Chaudhri

VOLUME 12 NO.3 JANUARY 2004

WWW VersionAnil RathoreRavish Azad

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Readers Write

Dear Editor,

I have gone through the latest issue of your E-Governance Bulletinand I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the teamof Informatics for bringing out such an excellent work. I would liketo be a regular recipient of the bulletin.

Muktesh Chander, IPSDy Inspector General of Police

Panaji, Goa

Almost everyone in NIC HQ sports a ‘smarter than before’ look these days….thanks to the issuance of‘Smart Cards’ !! In this issue, we feature the technology behind Smart Cards which has heralded a new dimensionin the area of security of distributed systems, personal identification and payment applications.

The whole team of Informatics wishes its readers a very happy, prosperous and secure year ahead in 2004.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR”

Sonal Kalra

Readers are invited to send their views, commentsand suggestions to the Editor through this column.The same, addressed to Editor-Informatics, may be

sent through post at Room No. 379, 3rd Floor, NIC Headquarters, A-Block,

CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003or through email at [email protected]

January 2004

03

Message

ICT is having a profound impact on the way Governments all over the world are providing services totheir citizens. Electronic Governance is an important item on the Government agenda today. A numberof successful e-Governance programmes and projects has been initiated and implemented in variousStates of India.

I am happy to note that Informatics, the e-Governance bulletin of National Informatics Centre, is doinga commendable job by providing a useful platform for sharing information about several e-Governanceprogrammes, projects and activities and highlighting the innovative approaches being adopted in thisdomain.

My very best wishes to the Editorial Team of Informatics.

( K K Jaswal )

SecretaryMinistry of Communications & Information TechnologyDepartment of Information TechnologyGovernment of India

Visit

http://informatics.nic.in/newsonline

for the latest News

K K Jaswal

January 2004

E GOV INITIATIVES

04

Smart Card Technology-An Overviewand NIC Initiatives

S.K.Sinha, NIC HQ

�| The Technology :

A smart card is a credit card-sized, tamper-resistant security device that offersfunctions for secure information storageand information processing that rely on

VLSI chip technology. A smart card containsa secure microprocessor chip embedded inthe plastic card (Fig.1). The chip canimplement an Operating System (OS) with asecure file-system, and the OS has thecapability to compute cryptographicfunctions, and actively detect invalidaccess attempts onto the card file system.With proper application of file systemaccess rights, a smart card can be safelyused by multiple, independent applications. A smart card is distinguished from amagnetic strip card (e.g., typical creditcard), and laser optical cards, as the latterhave no VLSI circuitry and OperatingSystem and thus no active securityprocedures and no built-in tamper-resistance. Anyone with an appropriatecard reader can read whatever is on thecard.

Reading and writing, information onto thecard is carried out by the device calledSmart Card reader. Since Smart Card is apassive device in itself, it draws powersupply and clock from the smart cardreader. Through a predefined set ofprotocols, communication is establishedbetween the Computer(PC) and Smart Cardthrough the Smart Card reader.Standardset of API’s are available under Windowsand other Operating Systems to integrateSmart Card capabilities into differentsoftware applications. Smart Card, whichhas the capability of a miniature computer,communicates with the PC to performdifferent operations on Smart Card data.

�| Information Storage :

Smart Card file system, which isimplemented over the E2PROM (Electrically

Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)of microprocessor chip, containshierarchical file system, with MF (MasterFile) at the top, DF (Dedicated File), and EF(Elementary File) as various entities in the

hierarchy (Fig3). Data elements are groupedand stored in EF, which is the bottom level

Plastic cards are a way of life in mostdeveloped countries. They are fast

gaining momentum in the developingworld too. Whether it is for certificate of

identity, e-Purse, or Credit/Debitpurposes, plastic cards have

revolutionized the way business isperformed in our day-to-day life. They

have been in use for a long time in theform of Magnetic Strip Cards. However,magnetic strip technology has inherent

security problems due to theun-intelligent nature of the card, whichis basically a digital medium containingdata in encrypted form. In that respectit is no different than a normal floppydisk, except with the difference in data

writing format and devices.

Smart cards have heralded a newtechnology that has tremendous

potential for enhancing the security ofdistributed systems, for personal

identification and payment applications.

January 2004

PONDICHERRYSetting an Example

M Manivannan, NIC-A&N (former SIO Pondicherry)A Venkatesan, SIO Pondicherry

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entity. Dedicated files (DF) are likedirectory files of conventional File Systemscontaining DF’s and EF’s. Dedicated Filesare also the entities hosting all filesrelated to one single application (viz.Driving License, Electoral ID Card, PANCard etc), and therefore are also termedas Application Files. MF is top levelDedicated File. All kind of files i.e. MF, DFand EF can be configured for their securityparameters (conditions) for variousoperations (Read, Modify, Delete) on theirheaders. Definable security conditions maybe PIN verification, Key Authentication etc.

?| Smart Card Security :Smart cards are the most secure devicesto store small piece of information, whichtechnologically makes it possible to imposedesired security conditions/rules foraccessing the required information.Following are the Security Mechanismswhich Smart Card provides.

a. PIN Verification: PIN is like apassword, which is securely stored inthe Smart Card. Any specific SmartCard functionality (e.g. PerformingMoney Transaction, requesting for e-Service delivery), can be bound withthe successful PIN verification. If PINverification fails, built-in mechanismon the Smart Card disallows thefunctionality to get invoked. Afterthree or four unsuccessful attemptsSmart Card OS blocks the PIN usageand thereby protecting the valuableSmart Card resources.

b. Key based Authentication: Key basedauthentication is the biggest securitystrength of Smart Card, due to whichthey are considered to be most securedevices as compared with other cards(Magnetic, Optical etc.). Keys aretypically used for cryptographicallysecuring data on Smart Card, with thehelp of strong on-chip encryptionalgorithms like 3DES or RSA. Throughchallenge-response mechanism andencryption and decryption through thecorresponding keys, two secure devices(with one or both as Smart Cards) cannegotiate to authenticate each other(Fig 4). And this is the methodology

through which a person proves hisidentity, what he claims to be, bypossessing one of the keys, securelystored on his card. The authenticationprocess can be based on symmetrickeys (Master Key-Derived Key) orasymmetric keys (Public Key-PrivateKey). Smart Card technology providesthe security against direct access tokeys, and makes it possible that allkinds of security operations areperformed internally on the chip,without sending keys out of the card.This enhances the security to a greatextent. The Smart Card chip(Microprocessor), is strong enough torun various security related complexalgorithms using keys internally.

?| Smart Card and PKI :PKI technology greatly depends on thesecurity of the private key of theindividual. Compromise of private key canlead to the failure of trust environmentcreated for the security of cyber world.Smart Card technology helps implementthis in following ways,i. Secure storage of individual’s private

key, inside the Card.ii. On-Card generation of private key-

public key pair.iii. On-Card generation of digital-

signature.iv. On-Card encryption and decryption of

data.All the basic data/information securitycharacteristics i.e. Authenticity, Integrity,Confidentiality and Non-repudiation can beensured through above Smart Card PKIsecurity mechanisms.

?| Smart Card for proof of Identity :Identity fraud is a growing problem worldwide ; specially in the context of thecurrent world scenario. Whether it is thequestion of secure border control ordelivery of citizen services to right person,ensuring the proof of identity becomes amatter of vital interest. Present form of IDare not secure enough or foolproof to stopthe identity fraud. Almost every thingwhich can be printed can be faked.Terrorists regularly use fake passports tocross the world boundaries.Smart Cards with biometrics having digital

signature of issuer authority caneffectively provide the fool proofmechanism to prove the identity of aperson is what he claims to be. Using PKItechnology on Smart Card, Identity Data ofindividual with his biometrics on the cardcan be digitally signed by an issuercertified by Trusted Certification Authority.Field verification process is performed tocheck for the following.

?| Card is Authentic :Authenticity of card is established throughchallenge response mechanism betweenthe secret key (Private key) stored on thecard, and public key, which is available tothe interface device (typically a simputeror a hand held terminal), off-line or on-line. A limited version of off-line CRL(Certificate Revocation List) can also bestored on these devices, as perrequirement of PKI process. CRL can besynchronized time to time with the oneavailable with Certification Authority.

?| Identity of card holder is authentic :First the digital signature of the issuerauthority which are stored on-card areverified through off-line or on-lineverification process as explained above.Then the stored bio-metrics of card holderare matched with the one captured live atthe point of verification. Since the storedbio-metrics are the same which werecaptured when card was issued and arethe part of data which is digitally signed,matching with live capture, authenticatesthe identity of the person.

?| Smart Card for delivery of CitizenServices :

Smart Card technology can enhance thespeed and authenticity of the process ofefficient delivery of G2C services. Efficientdelivery of services requires readilyavailable proof-of-identity, authentictransaction history and entitlement details.In Indian context they may be services likeration card, passport, Land Records, Oldage pension, different kind of subsidiesand support in rural sector including healthand education etc. All these kind ofservices require the on-site/fieldverification of proof of identity,



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entitlement details of beneficiary andapplication specific data. One of thebiggest benefits of usage of smartcard for these kinds of services isthat, it makes it possible to provideauthentic application specific datafrom the individual’s card at the placeof business transaction, whichotherwise would have been achievedonly through creating an efficientdata communication link andconnecting to the central ServiceDatabase at some remote location.Therefore it not only eliminates theneed of a vast data communicationlink across the country with very largenumber of nodes, but also itsavailability in all the places whereservice is being delivered.

?| Delivery of Services through Web :With the advent of Internet and WorldWide Web, delivery of information/data to masses has become extremelyeasy just by publishing it over the web. Butthere are many situations under which theinformation service which is required to bedelivered through internet, is private/confidential to the person for whom it ismeant to be. This kind of situation makes itessential to first establish the identity ofthe person remotely through internet. Onceit is established that the remote user is acitizen who is genuine subscriber of theservice, only then internet/network deliveryis made for the required service. Smart Cardtechnology provides the fool proofmechanism of remote authentication/verification of the person through internet,in conjunction with PKI and biometricstechnologies. Delivered information can alsobe written safely on the individual’s SmartCard for future use. Few examples of thiskind of services are, e-Vote casting overweb, Web submission of Income Tax returns,Delivery of Railway/Airlines Ticket, Road taxpayment and delivery of receipt etc.

?| Smart Card and Access Control :

Smart Card technology provides very safeand convenient way of controlling andrestricting the access of individuals to thecritical infrastructure of Government or anyother organization. Based on the

sensitivity, a building or infrastructure canbe categorized into multi tier levels ofdesired security, and divided into securityzones. Access to these zones is regulatedthrough Smart Card Reader controlledelectronic/electromagnetic door locks.Smart Card and the Card holder isauthenticated by these readers and theaccess privileges written on the card areread by the readers to control the releaseof the lock. Security mechanism can beenhanced by including smart card assistedbiometrics verification. By carefullydesigning the entry and exit log, themovement of individuals can be tracked forlater security analysis. This system can alsobe used in an organization or educationalinstitution for attendance monitoring andpunctuality analysis.

?| Smart Card based Network AccessControl and in-transit data security:

Current password based security fornetwork log-on has weaknesses due to thevulnerability of passwords being stolenwhile keying-in or through a maliciousprogram recording the key depressions onthe background and passing-on the stolenlog-on details to a rogue server. Smart Cardbased remote authentication comes handy

to effectively eliminate this problem ofnetwork security which can be implementedfor Secure Intranet or Virtual PrivateNetworks (VPN).Smart Card technology can also beeffectively used for network dataconfidentiality and data authenticity. Dataconfidentiality is implemented by on-cardencryption and decryption of in-transit databetween sender and receiver, throughrobust encryption algorithms implementedon the Card chip. Data authenticity can beimplemented by digitally signing the datawith sender’s smart card and transmittingdata along with digital signatures. Receiveddata with signatures can be verified forintegrity and authenticity by verifyingdigital signatures through sender’s publickey.

?| Smart Card technology for e-purseand stored value :

Smart Card technology offers a mostpromising way of storing digital money andconveniently transacting it for smallbusiness transactions. Several paymentsystems world wide either use smart cardstoday or have announced plans to do so inthe near future. For security reasons,current credit card payment systems havemade on-line connectivity mandatory forbusiness transactions. This hugely increasesthe operational cost for the systems whereamount of money per transaction isrelatively smaller.

For the payment systems where transactionamount is smaller, Smart Card based e-Purse system provides a secure, reliableand inexpensive solution. As an e-Purse,smart card stores an actual balance ofmoney, as secure data. e-Purse system onsmart card provides functionality ofcrediting and debiting the balance, afterauthenticating the cards mutually. Moneycan be credited on seller’s card and debitedfrom buyer’s card, in an off-line mode, withthe help of an off-line smart card terminal.Both the cards can load and unload balancefrom their bank account, by visiting a bankwhich provides this service. This concept ofe-Purse transaction can also be successfullyapplied in automatic vending machines, likemilk vending, tea/coffee vending machines

Fig 5. Card-to-Card e-Purse transaction

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etc where seller’s card can be fixed insidethe vending machines, and accumulateddigital money collected in a desiredfrequency.

NIC Initiatives in Smart CardTechnology

� | Smart Card in Transport Sector :

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,in conjunction with few State TransportAuthorities, took up the project of nationwide introduction of Smart Cards forDriving License (DL) and VehicleRegistration Certificates (RC). NIC wasentrusted by the Ministry to help andprovide its services as consultant for thecomplete project, which comprises,

v Development of Smart Card TechnologyStandards for interoperability acrossthe Nation.

v Development and deployment ofSymmetric Key Infrastructure for SmartCard Security.

v Development of Smart Cardinterface software with back-endVahan (For RC) and Sarathi (ForDL) softwares.v To establish a Smart CardCompliance Certification body, totest and certify the complianceof smart cards with evolvednational standards, for thevarious products brought intomarket by different industryplayers.

a) Development of NationalStandards for Transport Sector :

For any technology to work withcompatibility across the country,it is essential that all thedeployment agencies (States)follow same technologystandards for their technologyenabled delivery of service (inthis case Smart Card based DLand RC). NIC led a team ofprofessionals, domainspecialists, academia andindustry players, to evolve atechnology standard for Smart

Cards to be used for DL and RC, forinteroperability across the Nation.Various standards which were evolvedare,

v SCOSTA (Smart Card Operating Systemfor Transport Applications)

v DL and RC related on-chip Card DataLayout

v Smart Card Hardware specifications

v Hand Held Terminal ApplicationSpecifications

v Key Management System

b) Development of Symmetric KeyInfrastructure :

Security of data against fake duplication/generation and prevention of roadoffences are the two major reasons forintroduction of smart card technology forDL/RC. Smart Card security mainly banks

upon the proper design of the KeyManagement System and its safedeployment. Symmetric Key based securitywas considered to be most suitable forfield authentication of DL/RC and on-cardbooking of road offences at the field (Fig 6).

c) Smart Card interface software with back-end :

For performing various process operationsin RTO office, interface software for SmartCard is required to read and write DL/RCdata from the chip e.g. Personalizationand issuance of DL and RC cards at RTO,addition of more vehicle classes in DLCard, Modifying the Road Tax data in RCCard, Permit issuance etc. A standardsoftware has been developed to take careall these business processes.

d) Smart Card Compliance Certification body :

With the authorization from the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways, NIC hasestablished a Smart Card lab, for testingand certification of Smart Cards broughtabout by industry players for supplying todeployment agencies. Smart Card brands,certified by this body can only be issued asDL and RC Cards in the country.

� | Access Control System at NICHeadquarters :

After establishing sophisticated infrastructurefor Communication and Cyber securitymonitoring and Control at NIC Headquarters,and also after establishing Digital SignatureCertification Authority, NIC HQ has become acritical infrastructure for Government. Due tothis sensitivity, NIC has established a SmartCard based access control system at NIC HQbuilding. Smart Cards have been issued to allemployees as well as regular and occasionalvisitors for entry into the building. Accessprivileges have been defined in each card forvisiting to various bays. For more securezones, biometric verification has been made aprecondition for access. All entry and exitspoints are being recorded to trace themovement.

For further information , mail [email protected]

January 2004



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08

KARNATAKA - the SiliconState of India

Sudha Kumari & M M Shetty, NIC Karnataka

Major ProjectsTo bridge the digital divide between thehaves and have-nots, the keyword is ‘Citizen-centric’ projects. NIC KSU has beeninstrumental in the implementation of somemajor citizen centric projects…

? BHOOMI for Revenue DepartmentBHOOMI is one of the first

e-Governance projects successfullyimplemented for common man, jointly by the

Government of Karnataka and NIC KSU. It isa workflow based online system to carry outmutations on land records data. It has beenproviding service to more than 70 lakhfarmers of Karnataka since the last 3 yearsand on an average around 20,000 users are

KARNATAKA, the Silicon State of

India, with its rich prowess in theInformation Technology arena, has

captured the attention of the wholeworld, enticing IT firms from far and

wide to pool in their investments in theState. Bangalore, its capital, otherwise

known as the ‘Silicon Valley’, ‘BytesBasket’, ‘Garden City’, ‘India’s

Manhattan’ and so on, is the cradle formost of the flourishing IT Industry. The

Government of Karnataka, in itsendeavour to usher in an era of

effective e-Governance, believes thatInformation Technology should be

aimed at providing need-based, timelyand good quality information systems

to reach the citizens in an efficientand cost effective way. Since the

inception of NIC Karnataka in 1987, ithas been instrumental in introducingcomputer culture in the Government

and continues supporting theGovernment’s e-Governance initiatives

through quality services in the spheresof consultancy, networking, system

study, system design, softwaredevelopment, implementation and hand

holding.

?| Secretariat- online : A jewel in theCrown

Secretariat, the highest policy makingbody in the State, is a repository ofwealth of knowledge. To introduce theconcept of Knowledge Management,which ultimately drives towards e-Governance, NIC Karnataka State Unithas designed, developed andimplemented Sachivalaya Vahini(Secretariat Knowledge System), that ledto Online Karnataka Secretariat.Sachivalaya Vahini makes use of thelarge optical fibre based Secretariat LANsetup by Government of Karnataka,connecting more than 1200 nodesspread across 40 Secretariatdepartments.

Sachivalaya Vahini consists of thefollowing application packages.

?| Letter Monitoring and PublicGrievances

Letters from state and centralgovernment departments, otherorganizations, People’s representatives,and grievances received from thecitizens can be scanned and electronic

Letter will move from desk to desk foractions to be taken. The entiremovement of the Letters can be tracedand action taken in each section andthe reason for pendency is madeavailable.

?| File ManagementElectronic Letters will be filed to createelectronic Files and these Files aremoved crossing departments foractions to be taken. All registersmaintained and reports generatedmanually were replaced with electronicregisters and reports. Extensivequeries based on any parameter of theFile or action taken on the File can bemade.

?| Court Cases MonitoringThis provides information about allCourt Cases filed against theGovernment and by the Government.Court notices will be converted toelectronic Letters through LetterMonitoring System and finally into anelectronic File. Legal cell undertakesactions like preparation of parawiseremarks, draft statement of objections,appointing Government Advocate, etc.Affidavit will be filed in the court andhearing will start. As and when courtissues orders, those details are updatedin the system.

?| Budget Proposals MonitoringGovernment allocates funds todepartments under different head ofaccounts to implement variousdevelopment schemes. All the actionsin the process have beencoumputerised, monitored and requiredqueries and reports can be generated.

?| Personnel Information & LeaveManagement

All the details of the Secretariatemployees as recorded in the serviceregister are captured through thissystem. As and when transfer,deputation, promotion, retirement etc .occurs, details can be updated andnecessary orders can be generated.Through Leave Management system,

Karnataka



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Secretariat employee can apply onlinefor any type of Leave and the sanctionshall be sent through email. Effort is onto integrate both Personnel Informationand Leave Management system withSmart card technology.

?| KnowledgebaseA knowledge base consisting of all Acts,Rules, Government Orders and Circularsis being setup so that decision makingprocess maybe expedited.

?| Dashboard & Ticker serviceDashboard will give a bird’s eye view ofthe Letters, Public Grievances, Files,Court Cases, Budget proposals andEmployees details. Ticker Service willenable any officer to monitor theworking of his staff.

?| Customer Support SystemAs Secretariat LAN is a large network,users are bound to encounter problemsat times and through the CSS,complaints received from the users canbe recorded and immediate actions canbe taken.

?| Web EnablingAll queries of general public interestrelated to Secretariat KnowledgeSystem have been web enabled toprovide access to citizens. Citizens canmake a query to find out the status ofthe Letter they have sent to theGovernment and the exact locationwhere the File is pending.

? Salient Features

?| Integration : All the aboveapplications are integrated with FileManagement System, as every action inthe Secretariat initiates a File.

?| Access control : Different menuswill appear depending on the accessrights of the user.

?| Active Directory : Windows 2000Active Directory features are used forSecurity and Management with SQL 2000

EE database and VB 6 / MS Accessfront end.More than 4000 Secretariat staff at alllevels were trained extensively onSecretariat Knowledge Systemapplications. NIC gave technicalguidance to Karnataka Government insetting up a mail server at Secretariatto provide email ids to all employees inthe Secretariat and integrate the samewith Secretariat Knowledge System forsingle sign on. Karnataka governmentportal (www.karnataka.gov.in) was alsoset up with NIC’s assistance.

?| Major ImpactThere are more than 4 lakh electronicFiles of 40 Secretariat departmentsmoving through the network andbecause every information about theFiles are available readily, actions onFiles and File disposals are being takenspeedily. So far , more than 1.5 lakhFiles have been cleared. Theseprocesses ultimately trigger a series ofother activities, which results in speedydevelopment in the State.

being benefited every day. Land RecordsKiosks have been set up in all 177 Talukas toissue the land records documents to publicon demand. Finger print (Bio-metrics)authentication has been incorporated toensure foolproof system. BHOOMI hasreceived widespread recognition and hasbecome the model for replication in manyother States. International awards have alsobeen conferred on BHOOMI, namely thesilver medal at CAPAM 2002 and was alsoadjudged a finalist at the StockholmChallenge 2002. For the successfulimplementation of BHOOMI upto Talukalevel, technical and training support toofficials has been imparted with the help ofDistrict Informatics Officers.

? ‘Mukhyavahini’ for the ChiefMinister’s Secretariat

For the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to handleand redress public grievances, Intranet &Internet based Mukhyavahini software forPetition Monitoring, Chief Minister’s ReliefFund and web based Departmental ActionTaken Report, are being utilized extensively.Till date, around 1,35,000 petitions havebeen monitored through the system.

Grievances collected by Hon’ble CM during‘Janaspandana’, the face-to-face interactionprogramme with villagers in any location, isalso captured through the web basedsoftware for redressal. ‘Chief Minister’sReview’ is a single point portal for theHon’ble CM to review important projects anddevelopmental works. Daily weather report,rainfall data, electricity distribution withother critical parameters are also madeavailable.

? SARATHI & VAHAN for TransportDepartment

Automation of Regional Transport Office(RTO) was first taken up in 1999. Currently,9 RTOs are fully utilizing this software fortheir day-to-day operations of on-lineRegistration, License, Permit, Enforcement,Fitness, Fee and Tax sections. This has ledto enhanced revenue collections to the tuneof 20% as the system facilitates closemonitoring of tax defaulters.

? SAHAKARA DARPANA for Directorateof Co-operative Audit

NIC KSU has partnered with the Directorateof Co-operative Audit to bring intransparency in the administration throughthe ‘SAHAKARADARPANA’ dual languageportal (http://sahakaradarpana.kar.nic.in)to display the financial position of morethan 30,000 Co-operative Institutions,depicting their strengths and weaknesses.

? RAITA MITRA for AgricultureDepartment

Access to reliable, updated informationand improved communication isa crucial requirement for sustainabledevelopment of Agriculture. ‘. RAITA MITRA’(http://raitamitra.kar.nic.in) portal

Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. S. M. Krishna at theinauguration of ‘Raita Mitra’ Portal.



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substantial increase in revenue as bogustransactions are traced and consignor-consignee cross-verifications carried out.

? State Budget for Finance DepartmentThe Budget Information System was firstimplemented in 1991 to generate around 15accurate, aesthetic and bi-lingual (English,Kannada) budget documents. District,Department and scheme wise data for planschemes is captured over NICNET, whicheventually culminate in the Plan and theDistrict (ZP Link) documents.

? e-archive for Department of ArchivesThe Department of Archives is a veritablestorehouse of documents dating back to the17th century. To provide an insight into thevaluable collection of documents, Cataloguesoftware has been web enabled (http://kannadasiri.kar.nic.in), featuring powerfulsearch engine inclusive of Phonetic searchfor over 5 lakh documents.

? e-museum for Department ofArchaeology & Museums

The Department of Archaeology & Museumsis the custodian of the heritage and cultureof Karnataka, which is visible through theartifacts available at the 17 museums,numerous monuments and Archaeologicalsites under its control. To share this richinformation with one and all, as a first step,Bangalore Museum’s catalogue of artifactswith photographs has been hosted (http://kannadasiri.kar.nic.in) with a powerfulsearch engine.

? Complaints Information System forKarnataka Lokayukta

Corruption is the root cause of all evil andthe Karnataka Lokayukta aims at eradicatingcorruption by bringing the culprits to book.Software for accepting complaints withacknowledgement issued online, automaticjob allocation to officers for investigationand facility for updating the status ofcomplaints has been implemented.

? Consumer Case Information System forKSCSRC

Karnataka State Consumer DisputesRedressal Commission (KSCSRC) went onlineon 1st January 2003. The information of thecases from filing to disposal is keyed in.Generation of daily cause list, Court Hall

provides tips, information and bulletins on adaily basis to farmers for better cultivation.Access to information is provided free of costthrough the 745 RAITA MITRA centres acrossthe State.

? KRISHI MARATA VAHINI forDepartment of Agricultural Marketing

The Hon’ble Chief Minister inaugurated thisonline agricultural price information (http://maratavahini.kar.nic.in) bi-lingual portal in2002 and since then, the hit counter hasalready crossed the 1 lakh mark. The arrivals,minimum, maximum and modal prices of over100 agricultural commodities and 2000varieties on sale at the 142 AgriculturalProduce Market Committees (APMCs) areavailable on Internet by 4 pm everyday.

? SAMANYA MAHITI for RuralDevelopment and Panchayat Raj

To help in micro and macro level planning,the basic amenities available in all hamletsare captured into 400 parameters that arecategorized into 21 sectors. Data collectedand keyed in at the District / Taluka, aretransmitted electronically for consolidation atState level. Web site (http://www.kar.nic.in/rdpr) enables information to be viewed atvarious levels. Samanya Mahiti isimplemented in all the 27 districts and theDepartment is actively working towardskeeping the data up-to-date. Touch screenInformation Kiosks have been set up atstrategic locations for citizens to access thisinformation.

? ASTHI TERIGE for Rural Developmentand Panchayat Raj

‘Asthi Terige’ is the Property enumeration andTax calculation software developed for theGram Panchayats, where the authorizedperson can fix the Annual Rental Value andrates of tax. Tax collections are beingorganized through computerized cashcounters.

? ZPGIS for Zilla PanchayatZPGIS is a powerful tool that displaysinformation about various amenities availablein the district/taluka/village on the map andto perform various analysis for the districtadministration. SPANS GIS software iscustomized for this application and isimplemented in Bellary district.

? CASCET - 2003 for EducationDepartment

CASCET-2003 relates to Computer Basedonline Admission to Professional Collegesfor Medical and Engineering disciplines.Software caters to the ComputerizedEvaluation of Answer Sheets (OMR),announcement of the Merit List andallotment of seats. The website http://cet.kar.nic.in is being regularly updated. Theproject is successfully running for the tenthconsecutive year. The success of CET hasalso led to the counselling and admissionsfor Diploma Engineering, Nursing, Ayurvedic,Homoeopathic and Unani degree courses.Additional features include automated Audittrail for any back-end transaction, Bio-Metrics (FIT) authentication for access, Webenabled registration for entranceexamination, Comparison statement as perkey values and real answers, performancecomparison between the qualifyingexamination and CASCET, thereby enablingtransparency with accuracy in rankgeneration and seat allocation.

? CEMIS for Education DepartmentA Decision support system for better teacherand school management has been enabledthrough Comprehensive EducationManagement Information System (CEMIS)since 1996.

? Returns Filing System for CommercialTaxes Department

Commercial Taxes Department contributes tomore than 70% of the State’s revenue.‘Returns Filing System’ (RFS) for the KST andCST Acts is being extensively used in 290Assessment Circles for Registration,Payments, Returns Filing, Notices,Assessments and DCB for the past 8 years.

? CHECKDOC for Commercial TaxesDepartment

Computerised Commercial Taxes Checkpostsplay a vital role in preventing tax evasion.Since 2001, online computerisation has beenimplemented in 10 important Checkpostswhich are networked to the Head Office forinformation interchange. Onlineverification of consignor and consignee,Transit Pass information, Blacklisted dealersidentification, Detection of duplicate bills,under-value transactions has beenimplemented. CHECKDOC has resulted in



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updations, Recording Court Hallproceedings, Certified copy of filings,Judgement Transcription and many moreoutputs are instantaneously available. Computerisation of all the 27 DistrictConsumer Forums has been initiated.

? WEBPAAS for Passport OfficeTo apply for a passport, citizens all overthe State had to travel to the Passportoffice. The Ministry of External Affairs hasnow decentralized the process ofacceptance of passport applications to thedistrict SP/DC/DM offices. WEBPAAS hascrossed all boundaries and allows forpassport application acceptance at thedistricts, where they are registered andacknowledged, with on-the-spot receiptissue. Data from the districts is uploadeddaily to the central web server forconsolidation and further processing.WEBPAAS is implemented in 150 districtsthroughout the country.

? Bwssb Ganakeekrutha grahakara Seva(BGS) for BWSSB

BGS automates Revenue Billing and newconnections for the Bangalore Water Supplyand Sewerage Board (BWSSB), catering to 4lakh consumers in Bangalore City. The meritsof the system include no manualintervention, better services to consumersthrough ECS/SEVAK and data synchronizationfor anywhere bill payment between Sub-Divisions and barcode bills.

? ASHRAYA for Rajiv Gandhi RuralHousing Corporation Limited (RGRHCL)

RGRHCL has re-engineered its processes tobring about the ‘Less-paper Office’ culture,wherein lakhs of paper reports being sent bycourier every month for consolidation fromTaluks has been dispensed with. ThroughASHRAYA, the computerised system formonitoring rural housing schemes,beneficiaries’ details at taluka level are keyedin for further consolidation at State level.

? e-Granthalaya, Generic Software forLibrary Automation

e-Granthalaya, developed by NIC Karnatakais a generic windows based LibraryAutomation Software, which has beenstandardized by NIC HQ for implementationall over the country. The featuresincorporated include acquisition, serials,

OPAC, circulation and administration, withbarcode interface. Exhaustive help andsearch, guest account for non-members andweb utilities.

? e-MAN , Generic Software for AssetsManagement

e-MAN, a generic web based softwaredeveloped by NIC Karnataka (http://kemp.kar.nic.in/e-man) for integratedmaintenance of consumable and non-consumable items of technical stores, hasbeen implemented in many State Units ofNIC. The software provides for issuingitems, indenting and approval, returningand receiving fresh items into the stock.

?| TRAINING SERVICESA Team of IT professionals and softwaredevelopers of NIC Karnataka State Unit andDistrict Centres offer extensive trainingprogrammes to officials of Government onbasic courses and software applications.State-of-the-art training facility equippedwith high end Server and the latest Clientsystems with multimedia, LCD projector andInternet connectivity has been setup at theInternet & Training Wing, Bangalore.

?| E-mail & Internet ServicesNIC KSU provides e-mail service to over 1300users of Government, Research & EducationalSectors. Internet Service is provided throughits gateway at Internet & Training Wing,Bangalore that is served by 1 Mbps leasedline to VSNL and 128 / 256 Kbps SCPC VSATto Master Earth Station, NIC-Delhi.Connectivity to users is extended by means ofLAN to 35 Central Government offices housedin Kendriya Sadan, RF Link Metropolitan AreaNetwork to 13 locations having 1500 nodes inBangalore, Dial-Up lines to more than 300users connecting through ordinary dial-upPSTN / ISDN and VSAT to all District NICCentres for District Administration.

?| Video ConferencingA DAMA VSAT based Video Conferencing(VC) Studio, with additional ISDNconnectivity, is available at the Internet &Training Wing, Bangalore. The VC facility isextensively used by GovernmentDepartments to review ongoing projects,for training programs and seminars etc. VCSupport is also extended to Hon’ble Chief

Minister’s “Janaspandana” programmeduring face-to-face interaction withvillagers.

?| Web ServicesNIC Karnataka has designed, developed andhosted around 80 web sites which areaesthetic in nature and rich in content forState and Central Government Departments,Boards, Undertakings and Institutions. Hotspot of our web designs is the NIC KSU homepage (http://www.kar.nic.in) which accountsfor more than 50,000 hits on a normalworking day. The portal also hostsExamination Results that appear at differentperiodicity, during which time the hits spiketo as high as 2,50,000 per day. The ambitiousportal for the Accountant General’s Office isnow under way, through which around 6 lakhofficials of the State Government would haveinformation on their General Provident Fundsubscription and loans.

?| Central Government Projects: Supportis also being extended to the Registrar ofCompanies, Passport Office, DGFT, DGS&D,Central Administrative Tribunal, CentralExcise, Indian Customs EDI System,DACNET, AGMARKNET, High Court, DebtRecovery Tribunal, Postal Life Insurance,Coffee Board, NIMHANS in their day-to-daycomputerisation activities.

Besides, District NIC Centres provideactive support to the Deputy Commissoner’sOffice and Zilla Panchayat in their e-Governance initiatives.

NIC Karnataka State Unit is forging aheadin its endeavour to facilitate e-governancein the State and some of the newinitiatives and projects which are under wayinclude Raj Bhavan automation, rural digitalservices for the masses, PKI enabling andsetting up a data recovery & disseminationcenter for BHOOMI Project etc.

For further information, please contactState Informatics OfficerNIC Karnataka State Unit

7th Floor, Mini TowerDr. Ambedkar VeedhiBangalore – 560 001

e-mail: [email protected]



January 2004

D ISTRICT INFORMATICS

12

Pithoragarh – the GrowingSpectrum

Arvind Kr. Dadhichi, Uttaranchal Correspondent

?| NIC - PithoragarhNIC - Pithoragarh District Unit was establishedin 1989 at the Collectorate to serve the ITneeds of district administration and to promotecomputer culture among the governmentdepartments and general public. Ever Since itsinception, NIC Pithoragarh District Center hasdeveloped and implemented variousManagement Information and Decision SupportSystem, to enable government to takeinformed decisions, formulate comprehensiveplans, follow-up on delivery of public services,

and create user friendly public infrastructuresto enable masses to participate in the processof governance at all levels.

Key activities

?| Integrated Pay and Accounts Office (IPAO)Through convergence of services and deliverymechanism, NIC Pithoragarh has completely

Pithoragarh is a picturesqueborder district in the Kumaun region,

East of Uttaranchal State. The Districttouches the border of China (Tibet)

from northern side and Nepal on theeast. The population of Pithoragarh is

4,62,149 (provisional fig. of census2001) and is spread over an area of

7218 sq. kms. The famous KailashMansarovar Yatra conducted by

Ministry of External Affairs also passesthrough Pithoragarh.

?| Web Development & MaintenanceNIC Pithoragarh has developed a verycomprehensive and dynamic website (http://pithoragarh.nic.in). This website contains allmajor information for government and publiccovering tourism, cultural, socio-economic andstatistical information which is updated regularly.

?| TrainingSuccess story of an activity is solely based uponthe active participation of persons affiliatedwith it. Since it is the man behind the machinewho gives shape to various projects, NICPithoragarh took various initiatives to train anumber of employees of State Government tomake them aware with tools of IT. Sincebeginning NIC Pithoragarh has been conductingregular and frequent introductory, on-the-job &refresher training programmes.

?| Land Records ComputerizationWith the help of an in house software almostall the data of Record of Right, popularly knownas ‘KHATAUNI” of almost all the villages of thedistrict have been entered and corrected. Verysoon this Land Record Management InformationSystem will be able to deliver the copy of LandRecords to the public from a single window inaddition to other relevant information.

District Courts – District Court Computer Centrehas been established with the help of NIC.Automation of filing, maintenance and many moreactivities are presently under implementation.Recently Cause List generation program wasinstalled and started at the district court.

?| Management Information System (MIS)NIC Pithoragarh has also developed a number ofMIS for various state government departments,which are helping in decision taking andplanning a number of activities at various levels.Prominent MIS include District Plan, JawaharGram Samridhi Yojana Allocation Report, 20 pointProgramme monitoring, Revenue Collection MIS,Forest Conservation MIS etc.

NIC Pithoragarh District Unit

District Informatics OfficerDr. Jag Jeewan Singh Bisht

District Informatics AssociatePankaj Sharma

For further information, please mail [email protected]

computerized the payroll system of all theemployees of state government. Now pay iscalculated centrally at district treasury makingthe system more efficient and cost effectivethan the manual decentralized system. Notonly this, most of pay related information isdisseminated through a comprehensivewebsite making the system more transparent.The software has fully been integrated withalready implemented application softwareTreasury Information System of NIC (TISNIC).

?| Block Verification System for DRDAWith the objective of enhanced returns and valueto people from development programmes, acomprehensive menu driven program (in Hindi)has been developed. This application is runningsuccessfully in the district for last three yearswith verification of works in progress in blocksunder different schemes (state/ centrallysponsored) like Employment Assurance Scheme(EAS), Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY), Indira AwasYojna (IAY), Millions Well Scheme (MWS) etc.

?| Videoconferencing & Data CommunicationServices

Since beginning, NIC Pithoragarh has beenproviding data communication services throughNICNET to government departments. Recentlywith the introduction of Videoconferencingfacility it became a member of NIC’s 212 nodeVC network. This facility, which is widely beingused by the state government has become aneffective tool to communicate between districtsand state capital.

?| Basic Shiksha Parishad PayrollComputerisation

NIC Pithoragarh was the first district in UttarPradesh (now in Uttaranchal) which had takeninitiative to computerize the huge accounting taskof teachers’ payroll preparation for Basic ShikshaParishad in January, 1993. Later, two moremodules – Pension Accounting System and GPFAccounting System were added in the software.Since then entire payroll of around four thousandteachers have been generated every month andyearly GPF Balance Sheet is generated andprovided to all the teaching staff of BSA.



January 2004

East Godavari -FacilitatingDevelopment through ICT

Dr. BVNS Prakasa Rao, NIC Andhra Pradesh

The East Godavari District is located in theNorth Coastal part of the state of AndhraPradesh. The District spans an area of 10,807Sq Kms with 5 Revenue divisions, 60 Revenuemandals and 1011 Grama panchayats with apopulation of 48,72,622 as per 2001provisional census figures. The District isknown as the rice bowl of Andhra Pradeshwith lush paddy fields and coconut groves.

NIC -East Godavari District Centre wasestablished in 1988, with an aim to provideinformatics services to the DistrictAdministration in planning and development.Though it was a tough task initially tomotivate the officials to adopt computerculture, with time, NICNET became anindispensable tool for the districtadministration.

?| Landmark Projects

? Land Records ComputerizationLand Records computerization was started inthe District in 1996-97 and data entry wascompleted under Unix environment. Later thesystem was upgraded to Windows basedplatform and the data has been corrected tothe current year. Land ownership certificate,ROR 1B extract can be generated for a singleSocial Security ID / pattadar. Also copies ofAdangal / Pahani can be printed for the entirevillage or for a range of survey numbers.

? Janma BhoomiAndhra Pradesh Government started the

Janma Bhoomi programme in 1997and NICCentre has been involved in developing andimplementing the software for variousrounds of Janma Bhoomi right from thebeginning. The data relating to Non FinancialCommunity Needs (NFCN), Individual FamilyNeeds (IFN) have been gathered andanalysed to generate useful reports.

? Collectorate 2000NIC, East Godavari carried out a systemstudy of Collectorate-2000, based on whichthe software was developed by NIC AndhraPradesh State unit and implemented in alldistricts.

? District Web SiteEast Godavari was the first district inAndhra Pradesh State to have a web site(http://eastgodavari.nic.in) which has beendesigned, developed and maintained by NICDistrict Unit. The web site covers a widerange of information including districtprofile, history, administration, ICT activities,Infrastructure etc.

? NPCB Monitoring SoftwareUnder National Programme for Control ofBlindness, the data relating to blind personswas computerized and various reports PHCwise, Mandal wise were generated forMedical and Health Department.

? Personal Register MonitoringThis software enables user department toknow the number of files pending for thelast 30 days, 3 months, 6 months and 1 yearand generates several reports. This softwareis running successfully for last 10 years.

? District Court ComputerizationNIC has installed hardware and has developedand implemented software to cater to theneeds of various sections in the court. Variousday-to-day reports and statistical reports aregenerated through the system.

? Election Management SystemNIC East Godavari has been providing

support for all the elections includingparliamentary, legislative and local bodies.Support is provided at various levels ofelection process like pre-polling activities,which include polling party formation,assignments to polling booths randomly etc.

? Public Grievances MonitoringThis is one of the most effective applicationsof e-governance and has been developedand implemented for the District Collector.This software facilitates monitoring ofpublic grievances of various types.

? MEDLARS :NIC, East Godavari conducted MEDLARSworkshop in Feb 1996 in Rangaraya MedicalCollege, Kakinada to impart knowledge todoctors and Medical researchers about thisfacility of NIC. Since then MEDLARS servicesare being regularly used by Doctors andMedical researchers

?| Other ActivitiesNIC Centre conducts several trainingprogrammes for the officials in variousgovernment departments to help themimprove their efficiency in their respectiveareas. Internet / Email facilities are beingused by various Government Departments inthe District.

Another NIC Centre was established in theDistrict at Rajahmundry in 1997 with a viewto provide effective services to the E-mailand Internet users and departments likeDistrict Court which are located inRajahmundry.

The District Collector honoured the DistrictInformatics Officer and District InformaticsAssociate in 1999, 2001 and 2002 fortheir meritorious services rendered to theDistrict Administration.

NIC East GodavariDistrict Informatics Officer,

Dr. B.V.N.S Prakasa Rao

District Informatics AssociateSri Karrar Haider Baqri

For further information, mail [email protected]

13




January 2004


14

Jit Raj, J&K Correspondent

Doda - Marching TowardsE-Governance

About NIC- Doda

NIC established its presence in Doda in 1991with an objective to promote Informatics Culturein the District. Since its inception, NIC, Doda hasbeen instrumental in helping the DistrictAdministration in completing various time boundand strategic tasks. The NIC Centre has beenextending computer facilities to almost alldepartments in general and particularly toDistrict Development Commissioner’s Office.

Major Applications

?| Public Grievances Monitoring andRedressal System (PUGMARS)

A Web based solution for monitoring andhandling Public Grievances. The system hasbeen powered with a lot of features and hasproved to be very effective for DistrictAdministration.

?| Compassionate AppointmentMonitoring System (CAMS)

Web based solution developed forMonitoring Compassionate appointments.The system holds more than 400 cases atpresent.

?| Web Based Monitoring of RuralDevelopment Schemes (WEBMORS)

Monthly progress reports are enteredin WEBMORS, which are monitoredcentrally by the Government.

Other important applicationsdeveloped/ implemented by NIC Dodainclude :

? Online Treasury ManagementSystem (OTMIS)

? Payroll System

? Pension Management InformationSystem (PMIS)

? Passport Application AcceptanceSystem (WEBPASS)

? Village Information System

? Community Needs AssessmentApproach (CNAA)

?| Internet ServicesNIC Doda is one place in the District whereun-interrupted Internet Facility is availablethrough high speed FTDMA VSAT. Internetfacility is provided on the local area networkas well as through Dial-up to variousdepartments of the district.

?| Trainings and WorkshopsTraining and Workshops to update the skillsof Officers / Officials of the District in thefield of Information technology areconducted almost throughout the year.Moreover, customized training sessions fordepartments is a regular practice.

?| District Web SiteIn an endeavor to bring District Doda on theweb, Web site of the District was developedby NIC and launched way back in 1999. TheChairman District Development Boardinaugurated the Web site. At the initialstage, information on the web site wasstatic in nature. To keep pace with the time,Web site of the district was revised and thenew version was enriched with plenty ofinformation pertaining to District in dynamic

form viz. Village Information System, PollingStations, and Industrial Units etc. The WebSite of the district is updated on regularbasis. The web site has recorded a largenumber of hits ever since its launch.

National Informatics Centre, Doda has beenproviding its dedicated services to almostevery department of the District and alsopromoting IT culture in the District for morethan a decade now. With the result, thedepartments are realizing the importance ofInformation and Communication Technologyin their working environments. With therecent E-governance solutions provided todistrict Administration, the work culture hasdrastically changed. With the launch of WebSite, district has been brought on theinformation superhighway. Administration /Departments have appreciated the pivotalrole of NIC Doda at all times.

National Informatics Centre, Doda

District Informatics Officer

Sanjay Gupta

For Further Information , mail [email protected]

Doda District in Jammu & Kashmir was carved

out from the District Udhampur in 1948, and isthe third largest in area after Leh and Kargil.

Spread over an area of 11.691 Sq. Kmsthe district has a population of 6.90 lakhs (as

per census 2001).

This District has a rich history and is alsoendowed with vast wealth of natural beauty

and resources.



January 200415

E GOV PRODUCTS & SERVICES

IT at PGI Chandigarh

Vivek Verma, Chandigarh Correspondent

The Postgraduate Institute of MedicalEducation and Research (PGIMER),Chandigarh is an Institute of nationalimportance and an autonomous body createdon 1st April 1967 to train postgraduates inall the important disciplines of medicalsciences, to conduct research of the highestorder and to provide patient care of thehighest standard. The infrastructure forpatient care includes Nehru Hospital with1268 beds, two Research Blocks (A and B)for basic sciences, Advanced PediatricsCentre (APC) Block for children ailments,New OPD Block for Out patient services, andOral Health Sciences Block for dentalservices stretched over an area of 277 acres.There are 19 Out Patient Departments(OPDs) and 91 Out patient Special Clinics.

?| NIC and PGIMER

NIC signed an MOU with PGIMER in 2002 forthe development of a Hospital InformationSystem (HIS) . Thereafter, a dedicated NICteam studied the complete system andsubmitted a report to PGI which wasaccepted and approved in May 2003. Theproposed Hospital Information System willallow hospital’s clinical, non-clinical andpara-clinical staff to access relevantinformation efficiently and effectively. HISwill be able to support variousfunctionalities such as managing the list ofpatients on the wait list requiring differenttypes of treatment, bed status andallotment of bed to the next appropriatepatient on the list. Nurses can be allocatedto Wards depending on Ward size, type ofnursing care needed, operating schedules,etc. The current manual method ofmanaging patients, nurses, and beds istime consuming and error prone. It is alsodifficult to manage the large paper flowinvolved in this process.

The Scope of Hospital Information System(HIS) covers the computerization of thefollowing modules:

I) Clinical Services:

? Registration? Out Patient Department :Clinical activities, Special Clinic, Staff Clinic,Day Care, Minor OT, Department SpecificOPD? In-Patient Department :Ward Management, General Ward andPrivate Ward allocation, Nursing CareManagement, ICU Activities, OT Activities? Emergency? Laboratory Services? Patient Billing? Appointment and Scheduling? Blood Bank? Diet and Kitchen? Central Sterile Supplies Department

(CSSD)? Duty Roster

II) Support Services:General Patient Enquiry ,Laundry, Sanitation,Security, Transport

III) Back Office Services:? Administration :Establishment ,Recruitment ofCandidates, Service Book,Vigilance Case Handling /Issuance of ClearanceCertificate, OfficeActivities , ReferenceMonitoring (DAKMonitoring), Court CaseMonitoring, Movement ,Attendance , Rule Booketc.

? Accounts :Payroll (Group Insurance,General Provident Fund,House Rent, Pension,Loan and Advances, TA,DA, LTC and MedicalReimbursement) ,

Miscellaneous Accounts (Contingency,Budget, Compilation of Financial Accounts,Private Grants, Rent, Cash Receipt by theCashier, Internal Audit, Fee Section )

IV) Hospital Equipment Maintenance andInfrastructure Maintenance (HEM / IM)? Equipments Maintained by Supplier? Infrastructure Maintenance

V) Procurement System and OnlineInventory? Procurement? Stores? Pharmacy

NIC will now implement the completesolution on turnkey basis and it shall coverApplication software, establishing LAN invarious buildings, setting up Wide AreaNetwork across various buildings, supply &installation of Hardware, Storage etc. Thetentative time frame for completeimplementation is two years.

For further information,please mail to [email protected]



January 2004

E GOV PRODUCTS & SERVICES

16

COIN - A Banking SoftwareSolution

N.K Prasad, Bihar Correspondent

Co-operative Banks have been playing apivotal role in the socio-economic upliftmentof the poor and the downtrodden in ourCountry. Co-operative banks provide servicesin three-tier approach - SCB (State Co-operative Bank), DCCB (District Central Co-operative Bank) PACS (Primary AgriculturalCo-operative Society). The flow of moneytakes the route from NABARD to Rural viaSCB, DCCB and PACS. The Bihar State Co-operative Bank Ltd. was established in Patnaway back in 1914 and since inception, theentire activity of Bank was being carried outmanually. For each activity of the bank theresponsibilities have been predefined andassigned to the designated Officer/ Staff forsmooth functioning of the branch. Withcompetition in the financial sector increasingday by day the manual process is not able tosustain in long term in the larger interest ofthe co-operative bank.

Various activities of the Co-operative Bankinclude :

? Interest rate calculations

? Management of various types of fixeddeposits

? Management of loans/ advances withrespect to Agriculture and non-agriculture.

? Debit/ Credit with respect to allAccounts

? Management of demand/ collectionbranch wise and / or month wise.

? Generation and maintenance of Scroll/Ledger for all accounts.

? Preparation of Balance sheet & Profitand loss account

? Management of entire establishment.

More of these are being managedmanually. Bihar State Co-operative Bankhas a total of 8 branches in Patna underits administrative control.

COIN as the Answer....

To overcome the above challenges, NIC hasdeveloped a specialized software namedCOIN (Cooperative Banking in Place) . TheBeauty of this software lies in its customer-oriented approach. It provides completemechanism of every kind of transaction thatit handles.

The benefit of computerisation is manifold. Acomputerized system can reduce thetransaction cost and bring benefit to the bankby serving more customers with the existingmanpower and resources. An efficient way ofproper bookkeeping after business hours hasbeen introduced. COIN is designed to providebetter monitoring of agricultural loans andadvances, the core activity of CooperativeBank. The scope of computerisation of COIN isto automate the entire range of bankingactivities. This system in addition to itsimplementation at Bank Head Quarters can beimplemented in remote branches as well. Theextent of replacing the manual system withthe new automated system will be a stepforward in providing better and error freeservice to its customers.

The gamut of services to be covered byautomating the entire processes of bankingactivities will benefit in managing the keyactivities of Accounts, Finance, Administrationand Developing the Human Resources for theBank Head Quarters as well as its branches.In addition, the developed system will act asa single window platform for the Managementin controlling and monitoring various resourcesof the bank under disposal.

On completion of the computerisation of all thethree SCB, DCCB and PACS and connectedthrough Net, then request for loan amount canbe made from remote villages by PACS to DCCBand after scrutiny, DCCB will be in a position toraise the request to SCB from their respectivedistricts. All these loan requests will be

available to SCB instantly for their processing.

Technical Details

Computing Model : Client-ServerOperating System : Windows Server FamilyRDBMS : SQL Server 2000Front End Tool : Visual basic 6.0

COIN is developed following modularapproach of development, so that it can beeasily maintained. COIN exploits features ofthe Component Object Model (COM). Itincorporates object-oriented architecture.COM provides a standard protocol forconnecting objects together, even if they aredesigned in different programminglanguages. An arbitrary number of OLEcustom controls (OCX) are made and used asprefabricated components to aid in buildingthe project that smoothen the functioning ofproject. A dynamic-link library (DLL) filenamed BSCB.DLL is developed which groupsmany functions and class modules that arecompiled, linked and stored separately fromthe project that uses them. Using DLL savesmemory and reduces swapping . The softwareprovides quick and comprehensive MISreports and various conciliatory reports thatcan be generated at the end of the day.Software can pinpoint any type of errorsduring handling of transactions

?| Important Features

? Better monitoring of agricultural andnon- agricultural loans.

? Demand Draft disbursement Analysis andmonitoring with respect to CC banks

? Timely compliance of various reports tothe designated authorities

? Elimination of manual process, thusmaking the system fast, responsive anderror free

? Timely analysis of bank wise targetachievement for better inspection anddecision making

? Timely reconciliation of Head Officeaccounts




January 200417

T ECHNOLOGY UPDATE

De-Mystifying Technologybehind Dynamic Portals

Rama Hariharan, NIC HQ

With the advent of the Internet and therecognition of the potential of web sites as aprime vehicle for disseminating information,web sites evolved into two major areas. Onewas the evolution of web applications. Webapplications provided the necessarydynamism to web sites by interacting withthe organizational database. They practicallydispensed with the need for the continuedsupport of a web page designer and alsoeliminated the problems of inconsistency thatmight creep in due to manual re-entering ofthe data and the time lag caused due tomanual updation process.

Another direction in which web sites evolvedwas the development of web portals. Webportals are special web sites that address awider spectrum of the domain. A web portalmay be a public portal, available on theInternet or an intranet portal, available onlyto the employees and partners of anorganization.

However, as the complexity of web portalsand sophistication of the end-usersincreased, it became difficult to sustain themanagement of the portal through manualprocesses. The obvious outcome of the abovedevelopments was the marriage betweenstatic web portals and the dynamic webapplications, resulting in what is well knowntoday as dynamic web portals.A number of dynamic portal solutions areavailable in the market, the major onesinclude IBM’s WebSphere, EnterpriseInformation Portal, Lotus K-station,Microsoft’s SharePoint Portal Server andOracle’s Oracle9iAS, to name a few.

?| FeaturesDynamic portal solutions vary widely in theirfeature offerings.? Distributed Content management with

facility for taxonomy creation, automatictagging and indexing of content

? Workflow Management? Powerful search facilities? Personalization at the level of the

organization, a community or group ofusers and also at the individual level

? Subscription & alert facilities? Analysis reports based on user profile

& navigation data? Security features that may be rule-

based or role-based or both? Multilingual Support? Facility to plug-in custom modules

?| Architecture

A dynamic portal solution frameworkgenerally adopts a three-tier architecture? The front-end tier interacts with the

users. Invariably, there are two userinterfaces. The first interface interactswith the target end-users of the portal.They visit the portal site to access thecontent posted in the portal. Thesecond interface is typically amanagement console that facilitatescontent contributors & portaladministrators to handle various portalmanagement activities such as contentmanagement, workflow management,multilingual support, plugging incustom modules etc. There is no directinteraction between the two front-endinterfaces. The changes administeredthrough the management interface arepersisted in a persistent store. The

data from the persistent store isretrieved by the web server (with thehelp of the middle tier) and renderedon the portal site as per the needs ofthe end-users.

? The middle tier consists of a webserver and an application server suchas COM+ or J2EE server. Theapplication server hosts pre-built &custom-built software components.

? The persistent store acts as the datatier of the portal solution. It consistsof a database, a content repositorywhere the content files of the portalare stored and an authenticationsource, which houses the user details& is used to validate the authenticityof the visiting end-user.

Besides the architecture adopted bydynamic portal solutions, a number ofdesign issues also need to be addressed.Major issues are:

? The ability to use any front-end deviceto access the portal as well as use anylayout requires a finer level ofdifferentiation where the presentationdata is further separated from thepresentation logic itself. This isgenerally achieved by using XML todescribe the structure of thepresentation data.

? Since every element that getsdisplayed on the front-end is retrievedfrom the persistent store, it couldnegatively impact the performance of theportal. In order to reduce the load onthe back-end database, extensive

Continued on Page 23....

C YBER GOVERNANCE

18

CYBER GOVERNANCEA Glimpse of some of the new websites/portals launched on NIC’s web servers……

�| Board of Revenue, MPhttp://boardofrevenue.mp.nic.in

A dynamic website for the Board of Revenue,MP, Gwalior was recently inaugurated by Sh.Khushiram, President, Board of Revenue atGwalior. The site contains comprehensiveinformation of revenue cases with the Boardin the State of MP along with itsresponsibilities, objectives, administrative set-up, progress and achievements, case status,cause list etc. It also contains thematicrepresentation of yearwise performance.

The purpose of the website, developed byNIC Gwalior District Unit, is to keep thelitigants and legal practitioners informedabout the status of their cases, and also toelicit information for ensuring transparencyin the case disposal. The President of theBoard expressed appreciation for the effortsof Sh Dilip Shitoley and Sh Sanjay Pandey ofNIC Gwalior Distt Unit in developing thewebsite.

Santosh Kr Shukla, MP Correspondent

�| Task Force on Interlinking of Rivershttp://riverlinks.nic.in

Ministry of Water Resources has constituted aTask Force on “Interlinking of Rivers”. Underthe Chairmanship of Sh Suresh Prabhu, thetask force endeavors to bring out necessaryconsensus among States for interlinking ofvarious rivers in India. NIC has taken up theproject of establishing a LAN and providingInternet facility to the Task Force. As a part ofthe commitment of the Task Force to ensure

transparency on the developments and forcreating mass awareness about the issue, awebsite has been developed and hosted byNIC which comprises Discussion Forums,Opinion Poll, Chat etc on the topic. Thewebsite was inaugurated recently by veteranjournalist and Member of the Task Force Prof.B.G Verghese.

Dr. Kishore Kumar, NIC HQ

A Computer Security Incident ResponseCapability (CSIRC) is established to detectand react to computer security incidents in askilled and efficient manner. A CSIRC is acombination of technically skilled people,policies, and techniques that constitute aproactive approach to handling computersecurity incidents. A CSIRC can provideorganization-wide protection from damagingincidents, saving the organization valuableresources and permitting it to take betteradvantage of computer technology. Towardsthe establishment of CSIRC of NIC, namedNIC-CIRT - Computer Incident Response Teamof NIC, a dedicated website has been hosted.An additional supporting site (http://security.nic.in) has also been hosted forCyber security guidelines and Security Policiesof NICNET. These websites are accessible toall NIC professionals having user accounts onthe INTRANIC server. The NIC-CIRT andSecurity website caters to the following:v Incident Response Service: An online

Cyber security incident reporting form isavailable to enable reporting of securityincidents occuring in NICNET.

v Security Alerts and Advisory Service: Itprovides the information on latestreleases of patches and alerts fordifferent operating systems, router IOSand applications. Latest virus alerts arealso disseminated through the NIC-CIRTsite.

v Vulnerability Assessment: Online formfor requesting the vulnerability scanservice is available. Besides the requestmay be sent through E-mail also [email protected] mail account to availthe service.

v Animal Diseases Info system

A website for Weather Based Animal DiseaseForecast project of Madras VeterinaryCollege was recently launched by Dr. RKadirvel, Vice Chancellor of Tamil NaduVeterinary Animal Sciences University,Chennai . The website,www.animaldiseaseinfo.tn.nic.in, aims atprojecting the research made on the spreadof animal diseases and the factors thataffect the same. The highlight of the site isthe ”Thematic Maps” link that producesdynamic thematic/choropleth map onAnimal Population data and the outbreaksof diseases. The system provides the facilityfor customising the data on the parameterssuch as range values, legends, colours, etc.

January 2004

Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) http://cirt.nic.inv Security related Information

Dissemination Service: VariousInformation Security Policies worked outby NIC are available for dissemination tothe users through this service.Information on Patch management, virus,worms and anti-virus measures, securityguidelines, etc., is also available.

v Security Awareness Building Service:The website helps increase the securityawareness through release of securityrelated news, security incident statisticsand security tips on the website.

v Security Training: To update the securityrelated skills, training is organized onInformation Security periodically. Thedetails of the same are posted on thesite.

For the aforesaid services, the NIC-CIRTwebsite serves as a communication interfacebetween the Cyber Security Division, SecurityExperts, Network and System Administratorsand the NICNET users. The http://cirt.nic.inwebsite hosts dynamic content and the site isupdated almost on daily basis with the latestsecurity alerts, pertaining to the patches orviruses, or security related news item, or a tipor advisory on security related issues. Thus,regular viewing of the website and actingupon the information therein by the NICNETusers, in general, and the Network andSystems Administrators in particular, wouldhelp alleviate security problems. We call uponthe NICNET users to make use of the NIC-CIRTas a single contact point for reporting of anySecurity Incident to enable coordinated actionon such issues.

Ravi Vijayvergia, NIC HQ



January 200419

C YBER GOVERNANCE

Corrigendum

In this section of Informatics Vol 12 No.2 (October’2003), the photographspertaining to the news items on ‘KrishiMarata Vahini’ and ‘Distt. KinnaurWebsite’ got interchanged. Theinadvertant error is deeply regretted.

Editor

?| All Districts of Kerala on the Net !!

NIC Kerala Web Services Division haslaunched all district websites of Kerala Statein the “Districts Of India” portal http://districts.nic.in . Most of the district websiteswere registered through the onlineregistration of websites launched by Multi-media and web services division, NIC HQ. Thedistrict website contents were approved bythe respective collectors. This is the firstmile stone of the Web Services Division ofKerala State Unit with the stupendoussupport from DIOs and DIAs of Kerala State.NIC Kerala has also designed and hosted theweb site for NIC Kerala State http://www.kerala.nic.in. The district administrationare working with the DIOs to start servicesover the web with due priority to the citizenservices delivery from the Government. Thiswill further popularize the official web sitesof the districts thereby highlighting theimportance of the NIC’s services in thedistricts. The efforts of DIOs will bestrengthened by the Web Services Division ofthe state unit. The details with the links tothe district websites have been published athttp://www.kerala.nic.in/news

Bindu S Kumar, Kerala Correspondent

This website uses a free GIS Server calledMapServer developed by University ofMinnesota (http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/).MapServer is a CGI application and an opensource development environment for buildingspatially enabled Internet applications. Itruns on Linux/Apache, all flavours of UNIXesand Windows. Support for TrueType fontenables local language representation. FreePHP/MapScript dll provided by DMSolutionshas been used for dynamically manipulatingthe shape file and creating thematic maps.

R. Gayatri, Tamil Nadu Correspondent

?| Punjab Vidhan Sabhahttp://punjabassembly.nic.in

The official web site of Punjab Vidhan Sabhawas recently inaugurated by Hon’ble ChiefMinister of Punjab Capt. Amrinder Singh. Thesite has been designed and developed by NIC,Punjab State Unit. This dynamic site will helpthe visitors to know about General Informationof Vidhan Sabha, Questions of the House,Meetings of the various Committees, Detailed

introduction of the members of the house,information about the council of ministers ofPunjab, information about the bills passed bythe house etc.The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts ofthe website development team led

by Sh Navneet Kukreja, SIO Punjab andS. Sarbjeet Singh, NIC Punjab.

Sarbjeet Singh, Punjab Correspondent

? Online Filing of Tax Returns in NICNorth East Units

For the first time in the entire North East, NICemployees will be able to file their Income Taxdetails through an online system developed atNIC Assam State Centre, Guwahati. The web-enabled solution (available as passwordprotected intranet at http://www.assam.nic.in/incometax ) developed in ASP and SQL Serverdatabase has changed the way the Income Taxrelated information of employees will begathered and processed. The solution has beendeveloped by Ms Sabina Momtaz Sheikh of NICAssam State Unit and is also aimed atminimizing the manual work for the accountssection as well as the tax payer, who have towork out the details in a tedious manner. Thesystem can be customized as per therequirements of any department of the StateGovernment.

Tasiruddin Ahmed, Assam Correspondent

? East Kemang District, Arunachal Pradeshhttp://eastkameng.nic.in

The website of the East Kemang Districts ofArunachal Pradesh was recently launched onthe Net by Shri Jokey Angu, DeputyCommissioner, East Kameng in the presence ofHeads of Departments, other senior districtlevel officers and other staff members. Allvisitors showed enthusiasm to see the website

which provides useful information on thevarious facets of the District. Besides, a two-week long training programme on “Computer-Based Training On Office Automation” was alsoorganized by NIC for the Officers of the EastKameng District, in collaboration withAdministrative Training Institute, Govt. ofArunachal Pradesh, Naharlagun. Over 30officials from different departments participatedin the training programme.

Tasso Habung, Arunachal Correspondent

? Shimla District, Himachal Pradeshhttp://hpshimla.nic.in

The Shimla district official website was

launched by Sh. Virbhadra Singh, Hon’bleChief Minister, Himachal Pradesh on 20thNovember, 2003 at Bachat Bhawan, Shimla.Dr. N. Vijayaditya, Director General, NIC wasalso present on this occasion. The websitehas been developed by the DistrictAdministration, Shimla and NIC DistrictCentre, Shimla. The website providesinformation about the History, Culture,Tourism, Facts, Administration, EGovernance,Access, Citizen Services etc. An importantsection of the website is the Shimla-Heritage which provides links to selectedphotographs of Shimla dating back to 100years. Besides, the photo gallery sectiongives photographs of important places inShimla District.

Ajay Singh Chahal, HP Correspondent

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HAPPENINGS

�| Orissa embraces PRIASOFT

Panchayati Raj Institution AccountsMonitoring Software (PriaSoft) empowers theadministrators to monitor the fund receipt,availability, and expenditure at all levels ofthree-tier administrative set up of RuralPanchayati Raj Institutions(PRI). It generatesa number of reports and has an in-builtdecision support system to analyze any of theaccount heads. The software is designed soas to allow addition of new account heads atthe State level as and when required.

The Web-based version of Priasoft (http://ori.nic.in/priasoft) has been successfullyimplemented by Deptt. of Panchayati Raj,Govt. of Orissa, covering 30 DRDAs, 314Blocks and 6234 Gram Panchayats. Thesoftware has been installed at NIC-OrissaState Unit Server. The data entry / updationis being done, by PRIs, from remote placesover the Internet (District, Block and GramPanchayats). The features related to theelected representatives and assets created byrespective Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) are alsobeing added for better management. This isthe first time Rural Local bodies have joinede-governance initiatives in such a largenumber and effective manner.

B.P Mishra, NIC Orissa

�| National Conference on Co-operatives

A National Conference on “Post-Harvest

Technologies and Effective Management of aCooperative” was held on 10th October’2003at New Delhi. The objective of the conferencewas to bring together on a common platform,various cooperative societies dealing withfood processing and agribusiness activities.

Various NIC Projects in the related areas,

including Agmarknet, Nafed Computerisation,Warana Wired Village Project and Pravara

Educational Complex ICT Network weredemonstrated during the various technicalsessions. A prominent session on “ICTenabled Agribusiness : Pathways to Rural

� | NIC participates at IT.COM 2003

NIC participated in a major way at theIT.Com 2003 held during November 1-5,2003 at Bangalore . The NIC SouthernState/UT Units of Karnataka, TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry ,Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islandsset up a stall where the features,

implementation status and the impactof several e-Governance projects weredemonstrated online, supplementedwith audio and video aids. The stallwas formally inaugurated by Sh. RajeevChawla, Secretary, E-Governance,Government of Karnataka. The StateInformatics Officers of all the

participating NIC State/UT centers werepresent at the occasion and madepresentations and demonstrations oftheir respective activities and projects.A brochure of NIC’s activities was alsoreleased during this occasion.The NIC stall attracted a large numberof visitors including VIPs, Officials fromother State Governments, citizens andstudents from engineering colleges.The Hon’ble Union Minister of State forInformation TechnologySh. S.Thirunavukkarasar visited the stalland showed keen interest whileappreciating the efforts of NIC in thefacilitation of e-governance. The otherluminaries who visited the stall includedShri Inamdhar , Hon’ble Minister ofInformation Technology, Government of

Karnataka, Shri Panjan Agarwal, JointSeceretary, Department of InformationTechnology, Dr.N.Seshagiri, formerDirector General of NIC and severalsenior officials.

Manimozhi Udayanan, NIC Karnataka

This section features news about NIC’s activities/events across theCountry and the various new software being developed by NIC inits mission towards facilitating e-governance…..

January 2004



January 200421

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Prosperity” was chaired by Sh. M Moni, DDG,NIC and also the Chairperson of theorganizing committee of the event whichwas jointly organized by Bhoovigyan VikasFoundation and Park Technologies Inc. Theconference was presided over by Sh.Annasaheb M.K Patil, Hon’ble Minister ofState for Rural Development.

M.Moni, NIC HQ

?| HALRIS Software Inaugurated

HALRIS (Haryana Land Records InformationSystem) which has been developed by NICHaryana State Unit as a workflow basedsolution and has been integrated with HARIS(Haryana Registration Information System) isa unique product of its kind in the Country.Recently , the solution was implemented atyet another district of Haryana i.e. Sirsa(after Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetraand Panchkula).

The project was inaugurated on November 1,2003 by Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. OmPrakash Chautala in Sirsa District on theoccasion of Haryana Day . Addressing thegathering on the occasion, the Chief Minister

said that the project is expected to bringefficiency, transparency and accountability inthe management of Land Records bysignificantly reducing workload and deliverytime and by providing better services to thepublic. With the launch of HALRIS, commonman will now be able to get Copy of Recordof Right (Nakal) of his land, Services likeDeed Writing, Deed Registration, Attestation,Sanctioning and incorporation of Mutationsin Land Records etc. under one roof at TehsilHQ without facing any hardship andharassment. The System is also expected tocheck tampering of Land Records, thusreducing litigations pertaining to land

disputes. The System promises to fulfill theaspirations and needs of common people aswell as administrators alike.

Hari Chand, Haryana Correspondent

?| Feasibility Study for IT Centre at Lao PDR

Government of India has planned to assistthe Government of Lao PDR in establishingan “Information Technology Centre withValue Addition” at Vientiane under itsInternational Technical Exchange Cooperation(ITEC) Programme to strengthen its South-South Cooperation. Sh. M Moni, DeputyDirector General, NIC was deputed asInformation Technology Expert to explore thefeasibility of setting up the Centre. Duringhis visit to Vientiane, Sh. M. Moniparticipated in a seminar to assess theneeds and preparedness of various Ministries& Departments of the Govt of Lao PDR anddelivered a talk on “Digital Opportunitiesand Sustainable Development – A South-South Cooperation Imperative”.

Sonal Kalra, NIC HQ

?| One Day Governance Programme atVadodara

“One Day Governance Programme / NagarikSeva Kendra” at Vadodara district of Gujarathas been awarded for ‘Exemplary

Implementation of e-Governance’ byDepartment of Administrative Reforms &Public Grievances, Ministry of Personal,Public Grievances & Pension. DistrictCollector Sh. Bhagyesh Jha, I.A.S collectedthe award from Shri. L.K Advani, Hon. Dy.Prime Minister of India at the 7th Nationale-Governance conference recently held atChennai.

Nagrik Seva Kendra is a window for thecitizens to get various certificates likeIncome Certificate, Caste Certificate, OBCCertificate, Domicile Certificate and SeniorCitizen Certificate. All types of Affidavits,Arms Licenses Renewal, Petition WriterRenewal, Hotel License Renewal and StampVendor Renewal are also issued through thisKendra.

Software developed by NIC automates theprocedures at the Seva Kendra right fromthe receipt of application and approval toprinting of various certificates. The Kendraimmensely benefits the citizen of Vadodaraand the response has been tremendous sinceits initiation in May 2003.

Manoj PA, Gujarat Correspondent

?| E-Governance in Haryana HealthDepartment

Haryana State’s Technical Committee headedby IT Secretary of the State had preparedthe IT Action Plan of Haryana HealthDepartment wherein the responsibility ofdeveloping application software wasassigned to NIC Haryana State Unit . Thesoftware has been developed to monitor theflow of drugs, goods and attendance ofdoctors. E-mail facility with Internet accesshas been provided to the Civil Surgeonoffices in all the districts of Haryana.

A workshop was organized on the samerecently at Panchkula and Karnal districts.During the workshop, Sh. Rajkumar, IAS,Commissioner & Secretary, Health andMedical Education released two software

packages namely ‘Family Welfare InformationSystem’ and ‘Doctors Leave RecordInformation System’. He appreciated the roleplayed by NIC, Haryana State Unit in thecomputerization of health department,



January 200422

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Haryana. Sh. S S Duggal, & Sh. Rahul Jain ofNIC gave hands-on training to the nodalofficers and demonstrated the software toCivil Surgeons.

Hari Chand, Haryana Correspondent

?| NIC Support during President’s Visit

During the visit of Hon’ble President of IndiaDr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam on July 6th, 2003 toMumbai, the NIC State Centre Mumbaiprovided the necessary Computer andInternet connectivity to the President and hisentourage. ICT facilities were provided at theCamp office of President at Sahyadiri Guest

House of Govt. of Maharashtra.Hon’ble President of India during his visit

to His Holiness Dr. Syedna Burhanuddin (TUS)at Saify Mahal, Mumbai. Next to him is Sh.Moiz Hussain, SIO Mumbai

Moiz Hussain, NIC Mumbai

?| Software for GPF Queries

A Web-enabled software ((http://www.agae.tn.nic.in) developed by NIC TamilNadu State Unit for the Office of theAccountant General (A&E), Chennai wasrecently launched . The software provides thefollowing queries related to GPF to the StateGovernment employees numbering about 7.0lakhs :a. Monthly credits / debits transactions forany year from 1991-92.b. Current year Opening / Closing Balancecreditc. Opening / Closing Balance for any yearsince 1991-92d. Missing credits (Year / Month)e. Current year cumulative creditsf. Final withdrawal details like status, FWamount etc, for retired employees (along

with nominee details, residual etc.

The GPF data is maintained for all transac-tions since 1991 and the total number ofrecords in the database is about 100 millionrecords. The software has been developedusing SQL Server 2000 and ASP.NET.

R.Gayatri, Tamil Nadu Correspondent

?| ISO Training at NIC Bihar

ISO certification process has been initiated inNIC to establish QMS for ensuring consistentand reliable quality of services to the users.Initial stage of this important activity wasmarked by a series of awareness training tothe employees so that a broad awareness isgenerated. Immediately after trainers’training at NIC (HQ), NIC Bihar took the leadin providing awareness trainings to allemployees within a fortnight. This trainingwas effective and has generated lot ofinterest in adopting QMS.

Success of ISO training at Bihar led to theselection of Bihar State Unit as the Leader inthis regard. Dr. Saurabh Gupta, the then SIOand Shri S.N Behera of NIC-Patna werenominated as National Trainers on ISO. Theyhave already successfully executed the ISOawareness training at Andaman & Nicobar,Sikkim, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Mizoram.

N.K Prasad, Bihar Correspondent

?| Launch of HimBhoomi at HimachalPradesh

On 20th Nov. 2003 Hon’ble Chief Minister ofHimachal Pradesh, Sh. Virbhadra Singhinaugurated the online issue of copy of landrecords for the Sunni Tehsil of District Shimla,which was attended by a large no. ofdignitaries. Dr. N Vijyaditya, Director General,NIC was also present on this occasion. TheHimBhoomi software has been prepared byHimachal Pradesh State Unit and facilitatesthe porting of data from District to Tehsil,online entry of mutation and online issue ofNakal to the owners. For land records masterentry, the LRMIS software prepared in Oracle7.0 and Unix is under implementation in all

the districts of HP. The Chief Ministerreleased the CD containing the data of SunniTehsil and gave CD to Principal Secretary(Revenue), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh andTehsildar Sunni.

Thereafter he released the Jamabandi (ROR)with his signature and presented it to DG NICbesides the others. He also distributedcertificates of appreciation to Sh. Rajesh

Bahadur, SIO HP, Project Leader Sh Mukesh KRalli and Sh Lalit Kapoor, Sh Sandeep Sood,Sh Rajeev Sharma as team members and DIO& DIA of Shimla for excellentimplementation.

Rajesh Bahadur, NIC Himachal Pradesh

?| National Register of Citizens Database

NIC, Assam State Unit has undertaken theproject of computerizing the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC), 1951. Thesensitive and important project was entrustedby the Department of Political & HomeAffairs, Government of Assam to NIC. Dhubriwas selected as the pilot district forimplementation in Assam. Out of a total of1304 registers, containing data for populationof 7,16,859, data entry for more than 130registers have been completed from March tillNovember 2003. Ten personnel from theAssam Police department trained at NICDhubri were engaged in the data entryoperations using the software developed atNIC Assam State Centre. Since the originalregisters contained data in English, Assameseand Bengali, the software was designed tosupport regional language and implementedusing ISM Office 2000, Visual Basic andAccess. Considering the fact that the pagesin the registers are mostly in a nearlymutilated condition, and the legibility of thehand-written records, the data entry which



January 200423

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has to be done with utmost care, is an uphilltask. Once the entry is completed, data inthe digital format shall remain preserved foryears to come and can be referred to as andwhen required by the Government.

Tasiruddin Ahmed, Assam Correspondent

?| Ration Card Computerisation at Gujarat

NIC has developed and successfullyimplemented Tehsil/Taluka Level Ration CardComputerisation System in BanaskanthaDistrict of Gujarat State. The initiative takenby Shri Kamal Dayani (IAS), Collector & DMand Shri Rajesh Mehta, District SupplyOfficer, provides G2C e-Governance interfaceto the benefit of the citizens of this northGujarat district. Backlog of 20000 ration

cards has been cleared and the database ofaround five lakh cardholders has been builtup. Centralised data store at District level isbeing updated by online data entry andprinting of ration card is at Taluka levelthrough Gujarat State WAN. Online rationcard system was inaugurated at NagarikSeva Kendra, Palanpur on Oct 2, 2003 andvisited by Hon’ble Chief Minister. EightTalukas of the district is now issuing rationcards using this system.

Manoj PA, Gujarat Correspondent

?| Training on Developing websites atArunachal

A training programme on “DevelopingWebsite” was conducted by NIC ArunachalPradesh State Unit from Nov 10-14 ‘2003.Sh. Manish Gupta, Secretary IT, inaugurated

caching is used. Frequently accessedcontent that is more or less static areretrieved from the database and cachedin the web server as HTML or XMLfragments or files. These cachedfragments are updated automatically asand when changes are applied to theunderlying database.

? To facilitate quick & easy search, thecontent contributor is required to tag thecontent with attributes such as author,title, keywords etc. Wherever possible,each attribute is stored within the file,as meta-tags in HTML documents and inthe document properties of thedocuments such as Word, Excel etc.Documents for which information cannotbe directly written into the files (e.g..exe file) have an HTML stub file createdfor them which stores the contentattributes as meta tags and have aredirect to the actual file. Sometimes,keywords are built dynamically based onuser search.

? Multilingual support is extended to theportal by storing all labels, messagesetc. in the database. To boostperformance, these labels are retrievedand cached in the web server.

? Personalization is carried out throughexplicit as well as implicit profiling.Explicit profiling is achieved by explicitlyasking the user to state his/herpreferences when signing up. In implicitprofiling, user behavior is capturedinvariably through a web log, which isthen analyzed to judge user preferences.Both explicit as well as implicit profiling,when combined with user details,provide analytical insights that can beused to improve the site.

The paucity of space restricts a full-blowndiscussion on many more challenging designissues handled by such portal solutionframeworks. Attention may, however, bedrawn towards the development of a similarsolution framework by NIC.

eNRICH (http://enrich.nic.in) wasconceptualized, jointly by NIC & UNESCO, as asimple browser-based solution to enable ruralcommunities to access information they need

through a single one stop portal. Though anyof the above portal solutions could havebeen used, the need was for a very low endcomputing solution that could be installed ina desktop environment.

eNRICH was further enhanced to cater tothe need for the development of blockcommunity portals for the 487 blocks underthe Community Information Centre (CIC)project of the 7 North-Eastern states andSikkim. Some of the features offered byeNRICH include:

? Content management including facilityfor building content taxonomy,distributed content contribution (by CICoperators, domain experts & governmentfunctionaries), provision for contenttagging, moderation of content etc.

? Role-based security? Personalization at the level of block

community as well as individual both interms of appearance as well as content

? Analysis reports based on the userprofile & navigation data

? Multilingual support? Search facilities? Sharing of content among multiple

online block communities

eNRICH is also being customized togenerate dynamic portals for more than 550DRDAs of the country. Efforts are alsounderway to customize eNRICH to act as anintegrated solution for health workers inPHCs, allowing sharing of health relatedinformation as part of WHO’s Health InterNetwork Pilot Project. All thesecustomization efforts are providing valuableinsights for making the portal frameworkmore generic.

Dynamic portal frameworks offeropportunities to address a wide spectrum ofapplication areas ranging from a highlycomplex one-stop, integrated governmentportal such as the proposed India Onlineportal on the one hand to a fairly simpleportal required by a large number of ruralcommunities who lack the technical expertiseto manage the portal.


Continued from Page 17....

Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh Narendra Modi talking toa ration clerk at Nagrik Seva Kendra.

De-Mystifying Technology behind Dynamic Portals

24

National Informatics Centre, Department of Information Technology,Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India,A-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003

Telephone: 91-11-24361133 Fax: 91-11-24362628 www: http://home.nic.in

This publication is brought to you by:

H APPENINGS

elected as office bearers of Computer Societyof India, Lucknow Chapter for the year 2003-2004. Dr. L.R. Yadav, Technical Director, NIChas been unanimously elected as Chairman,while Mohd. Amir Idrees has been elected asSecretary and Mr. Deepak Sharma asTreasurer.

Anshu Rohatgi, Uttar Pradesh Correspondent

� | Online Counselling & Admissions atRajasthan

NIC has implemented an Internet–basedcounseling system for the All-IndiaEngineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE)and introduced it in the Malviya NationalInstitute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur & 13National Engineering Institute and a fewother Universities. The system has beenlaunched for the first time in the country. Inorder to smoothen out the process and makeit faster and convenient, online counseling &admissions system has been implemented bythe NIC, Rajasthan State Unit. The successful

candidates of the engineering entrance testwill be able to select the college of theirchoice and the branch of study throughInternet. As many as 13 National engineeringinstitute and a few other Universities havebeen included in the new system.

The State Science and Technology Minister,Shri Madhav Singh Diwan took stock of thecounseling system in MNIT over the weekendand lauded the NIC’s endeavor saying itwould bring effective management andtransparency to the admission procedure inthe prestigious engineering courses

Deepak Bhargava, Rajasthan Correspondent

the five days programme at StateSecretariat. Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Gupta expressed his happiness that thedepartments have shown keen interest andsent their officers for this trainingprogramme. He said that web site is the best

way in dissemination of news and also thecheapest means of communication. TheSecretary also appreciated NIC’s role inproviding training.Mr. D.K.Debnath, SIO, who also spoke on theoccasion, informed that the trainingprogramme has been taken up in rightearnest and effort have been taken to ensureprovision of a computer with internetconnection for each trainee during thetraining, so that the participants caneffectively practise on the skills learnt duringthe programme. The programme wasattended by officials from variousdepartments of the Arunachal Government.

Tasso Habung, Arunachal Pradesh

� | Awards to NIC Projects during E-GovConference

The official web portal of Haryanagovernment, http://haryana.nic.in, which hasbeen developed, hosted and being maintainedby a team headed by Sh. Pardeep Kaushal,NIC Haryana was awarded “Merit Citation”under “Exemplary Website” category at the 7thNational E-Governance Conference held atChennai during Nov. 13-15,2003, organisedjointly by the Department of AdministrativeReforms and Public Grievances, Government ofIndia and Government of Tamil Nadu. Inaddition , a paper entitled “e-Food.Net – AWeb Based Decision Support System for FoodDepartment & Related Agencies” was also

awarded “Merit Citation” under “Besttechnical papers”.

The e-Food.Net Software has beendeveloped & being implemented undertechnical guidance of NIC Haryana and thepaper submitted by Sh. Baljit Singh,

Computer in-charge Haryana Food &Supplies Department & Sh. S S Duggal fromNIC Haryana. These two Merit Citationswere received by Mr. G S Bansal, SIO-Haryana from Sh. L.K. Advani, Hon’ble Dy.Prime Minister of India.During the Conference, the LokMitra Projectof Himachal Pradesh Government wasconferred with the “Exemplary EGovernanceInitiative-Bronze Award”. The LokMitraProject has been designed, developed andbeing maintained by NIC Himachal Pradeshand the nomination paper was alsoprepared by NIC Himachal Pradesh for theConference as a concept paper on behalf ofthe HP Government. The LokMitra PilotProject has been implemented in theHamirpur district with the objective ofproviding IT enabled Government to CitizenServices to the rural masses. The Projectwas listed as one of the 20 Hot E-Governance Projects of the Country byDataquest September 15, 2003 issue.

Hari Chand, Haryana Correspondent andAjay Chahal, Himachal Correspondent

� | NIC Officers elected on CSI-LucknowBoard

Owing to their valuable contributions in thefield of Information Technology for theState of Uttar Pradesh, three officers fromNIC U.P. State Unit, Lucknow have been

January 2004