Working Group on Information Technology For Masses

Background Report – I

Government of India

Ministry of Information Technology New Delhi

Web site : http://itformasses.nic.in

Email : itformasses@nic.in

MAY 31, 2000.

CONTENTS

I. Background

II. Objective and Vision Statement

III. Terms of Reference

IV. Deliberations of the Working Group

V. IT and Masses

VI. IT Applications Relevant to Masses

1. Electronic Governance

2. Enabling Literacy and Education for Masses

3. Fulfilling Local Information needs of the people

4. Enabling better economic condition of people

i. Employment Generation

ii. Direct Marketing of Rural / Agro Products

1. Educating Citizens about their duties

I. Issues in Taking IT to Masses

1. Establishment of IT Infrastructure

2. Government Regulations and Procedures

3. Government Funding

I. Enabling and Empowering Masses through IT

I. Initiatives already taken by Central and State Governments

II. Conclusion ANNEXURES

I. Notification on Constitution of the Working Group on IT for Masses

II. Minutes of the first meeting of the Working Group on Information Technology for Masses

III. Minutes of meeting with HOGs/HOWs/HODs of Ministry of Information Technology

IV. Minutes of meeting with HODs/SIOs of National Informatics Centre

V. Major IT-Applications in Central Government relevant to Masses

VI. Major IT-Applications in States relevant to Masses

VII. Recommendations of the Working Group on Citizen-IT Interface

VIII. Recommendations of the Working Group on Content Creation and Content Industry

IX. Recommendations of the Working Group on IT-Human Resource Development

II. BACKGROUND The last decade of 20th century had witnessed Information Technology emerge as the most prominent technology to have a revolutionary affect on the lives of people across the world. During this period, Indian engineers and scientists have earned a high degree of esteem around the world for their highly professional and innovative contribution to the technological advancements in this field. Large number of Indians occupy senior positions in IT companies of developed countries like USA. Recognizing the contribution of Indian software professionals in USA, countries like Germany and Japan have recently shown interest in hiring Indian software processionals to their countries. On the domestic front also, IT industry has shown highest growth rates consistently over the last many years compared to any other industry. Software exports from India have risen from US$ 50 million to US$ 5 billion during the last five years. Recognizing such a vast potential of IT industry, government has set an ambitious target to raise India’s contributions to the IT-industry to the level of US$ 50 billion per annum by 2008 and thus help the nation emerge as IT Superpower in the world. Government is aware that sustenance of such

a high growth rate in the long run requires an equally strong and vibrant domestic IT market. Government has, therefore, decided to use Information Technology as a major vehicle for all round socio-economic development in the country and thus, as a by-product, facilitate creation of a strong domestic IT market. With a view to facilitate fast paced growth of IT industry in the country, Prime Minister had set up a National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development. Based on the recommendations of this Task Force, Government has already implemented number of regulatory and promotional measures to remove impediments and enable the growth of IT industry in the country. With the passage of Information Technology Bill recently in parliament, Government has put in place legislative mechanism in the country to enable large-scale applications of IT in various areas related to day to day lives of the people. The enactment of this legislation is expected to act as a major enabler for mass spread of Information Technology in the country. While Government has been taking number of pro-active steps to promote the growth of IT Industry, it is equally conscious that these developments do not create a new division in society, referred to as digital devide by some people – divide between those who have access to IT based services and those who do not. Government is, therefore, determined to see that the benefits of Information Technology do not remain confined to higher classes of Society. In fact Government intends to use IT as a major instrument to provide new opportunities to those segments of society who do not see opportunities to improve their quality of life and tend to reconcile to their fate. It is a firm view of the government that if any technology can create new opportunities to bridge the gap between haves and have not in society in the present times, it is IT. With a view to give a concrete shape to this thinking, and recommend catalytic, pro-active and enabling steps to be taken by the government to convert this commitment into an operational mechanism, Government has constituted a Working Group on Information Technology for Masses.

II. OBJECTIVE AND VISION STATEMENT

The overall objective and vision of the Working Group is to ensure that government play a catalytic role in marshalling all resources, including financial, administrative, policy, infrastructure etc. to ensure that the other half of the Digital Divide also enjoys the benefits of IT revolution and not gets left out because of benign neglect and in the process get alienated further from the national progress in IT. The Working Group perceives IT providing a unique and new opportunity to address age-old problems in the field of education, health, rural development, poverty alleviation, employment etc. and be a major facilitator for information transparency, good governance, empowerment, participative management and grass-root democracy. The overall theme of the Working Group, therefore, revolves around steps required to be taken by the government to ensure Enabling and Empowerment of masses to ensure mass scale spread of IT and its benefits in the country.

III. TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. To review various schemes and major initiatives taken by various Government

agencies for taking IT to masses.

2. To identify potential areas and applications for deployment of IT for masses.

3. To recommend development schemes/ programmes for citizen participation for taking IT to masses.

4. To prepare a comprehensive plan for taking IT to masses.

IV. DELIBERATIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP

The first meeting of the Working Group was held on May 23, 2000. This meeting was planned to be a brainstorming session to freely elicit and discuss the views of the members and invitees to the meeting on various issues related to the theme of IT for masses.

Various Divisions/ Groups and associated organizations of Ministry of Information Technology have been engaged in number of programmes in collaboration with different Ministries/ Departments of Central and State Governments with a view to facilitate the setting up and utilization of IT based services in the country. Accordingly, to seek larger participation of these Divisions / Groups and associated organizations of the ministry, a meeting with senior officers of MIT was held on May 24, 2000. In this meeting, senior officers of the ministry had participated and expressed their views on the approach to be followed by the Working Group as well as gave a brief overview of various programmes/ projects being undertaken by the ministry in this direction.

Subsequently, a meeting was held on May 26, 2000 with HODs/ SIOs of NIC who are engaged in providing IT services to various Ministries of Central and State Governments respectively.

The Working Group plans to meet some of the major government as well as non-government organizations across the country in its regional meetings scheduled to be held during second half of June, 2000.

The Working Group also has carefully studied the recommendations made by the Working Groups on Citizen-IT Interface; Content Creation and Content Industry; and IT-Human Resource Development which were constituted as a part of Prime Minister’s National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development. Number of recommendations made by these Working Groups are relevant to the theme of the present Working Group.

V. IT AND MASSES

The perception of people with regard to terms Information Technology and Masses varies from person to person in the country. With a view to provide an appropriate context for these terms, the Working Group had deliberated on the scope of IT for masses before proceeding further with the steps to be recommended for this purpose. For quite sometime, in conventional terms, Information Technology has been used as synonymous to computers. However, with the rapid advancement towards convergence of various information delivery systems such as Radio, TV, Telephone,

Newspapers, Fax and of course computers and computer networks, it has now become feasible to offer IT services using conventional forms of information delivery system. The last five years have seen phenomenal growth in the country with regard to spread of cable-TV network and mobile phones. Their integration with Internet has been a major facilitator of empowering people with information. Internet over mobile phones and cable TV networks has ensured that the power of information delivered to people through Internet is available even in the remotest places in the country and that too without necessarily requiring computers which have all along been the only device to access Internet. The Working Group, therefore, looks at Information Technology as a set of media and devices out of which proper solutions can be configured based on the needs and affordability of the target clientele in the country. With regard to term Masses, the Working Group is fully conscious of the extreme variations in classes based on economic status of the people in the country. While 40% of nation’s population on one hand continues to live below the poverty line, only about 20% belong to higher and rich classes in the country. The remaining 40% form a large middle class in the country. Irrespective of such class based divisions in the society, there are sections of people such as women and senior citizens across all classes who are not able to actively participate in economic activities of the country. The Working Group believes that while the needs of higher middle and rich sections of the society can be taken care of by emerging markets, there is an urgent need to examine catalytic and enabling role to be played by the government to ensure that while on one hand 400 million strong middle class people, who provide a very large domestic market for IT products and services, get the benefits of IT in their day to day lives, on the other hand for 40% of the people who are living below poverty line, government has to take steps so that IT could provide new opportunities for these people to be able to move above the poverty line.

VI. IT APPLICATIONS RELEVANT TO MASSES

The Working Group has classified IT applications which are likely to have direct relevance to large number of people at different levels in the country into the following categories:

1. Electronic Governance

2. Enabling Literacy and Education for Masses

3. Fulfilling local information needs of people

4. Enabling better economic conditions of people

5. Educating Citizens about their duties

Some of the major applications in these categories are described in this section.

1. Electronic Governance Government and its numerous agencies are the largest service providers in the country. It is obvious that in order to have a visible impact of the benefit of IT on people, government must select major services at different levels such as Ministries/ Departments of Central Government and State Governments, District Administrations, Municipal Services and services related to local governance at Block/ Panchayat level, and re-engineer them through extensive use of IT. While over the years, there has been considerable progress in the use of IT in government services, most of these applications have been confined to back-office computerization. As a result, the improvement in quality of service to public has not made sufficient impact. It is, therefore, necessary that each one of the government agencies involved in providing public-oriented services should identify at least one area and use Information Technology in a highly intensive manner so that all aspects of delivery of service to people should transform into an IT based service. While doing so it would obviously be necessary that for sustainability of good quality of service to citizens, back-office component of the concerned agency for the identified application is fully computerized. However, the approach for computerization and IT induction should be from front-office applications to back-office and not the other way. This will ensure that there is sufficient pressure on the government agencies from public to sustain the quality of service using IT. Back-office computerization alone, which has very little impact on the public interface, is not sustainable in the long run due to lack of such public pressure. Some of the applications, which Working Group would like government agencies at different levels to undertake on priority are:

i. Computerization of land records all over the country with computerized land/ property documents to be made available to people at all levels including in villages in a time bound manner.

ii. Payment of bills / municipal taxes.

iii. Computerization of information related to court cases particularly the ones related to land/ property disputes and extensive use of computers in courts at all levels in the country for office-automation and judicial applications.

iv. All government regulations, notifications and forms for various services at all levels of government up to municipal / local government agencies to be made available to people on Internet.

2. Enabling Literacy and Education for Masses In spite of Literacy Mission launched by the Government more than a decade ago, India continues to have largest population of illiterates in the world. The percentage of illiterates is considerably higher amongst women in the country. In an information driven society where socio-economic growth depends on capability to acquire and effectively utilize information, it is necessary that citizens not only be fully literate but also be educated in true sense (not just limited to formal education) so that they could fully exploit the benefits of technological advancements in various fields.

Information Technology with convergence of various technologies related to communication and delivery of information such as video, audio, telephone, television, newspapers, computers etc. into one unified framework, provides for the first time a unique opportunity to spread literacy and education at a mass scale in the country at affordable cost. The convergence enables ease of providing educational material, which is one of the pre-requisites to spread literacy and education in the country. We need to look at the concept of Community Information Centres, Community Library Centres and Panchayat Centres across the country in a completely new way with the availability of IT tools and services. These community centres could be major hubs of educating ( not just providing information to ) people on a mass scale. Unlike the earlier SITE experiment using television as a means of educating people, the convergence of IT tools enables interactive learning alongwith broadcasting medium such as television and radio. Experience has shown that any exercise for educating people necessarily requires interactivity.

3. Fulfilling Local Information Needs of people One of the major drawbacks of IT based systems developed in many areas is that its information content is generally not directly relevant to people for whom these are developed. The contents are generally planned by people who have themselves not lived in those areas particularly in semi-urban/ rural areas. As a result, these systems have a heavy urban-bias. Such systems, therefore, have limited utility and soon become commercially un-viable. It is a myth that people in rural areas like to have free delivery of information. Some of the surveys have shown that if information has direct relevance to people even in rural areas and will result in commercial gains and thus improvement in their economic conditions, people will be willing to pay for such services. We need, therefore, to launch a scheme, which would enable the process of large-scale self-employed youngsters across the country to set up and develop contents for Information Kiosks, particularly for rural areas. It has to be ensured that such schemes have large scale private participation and are not dependent on government funding alone. From the Government side, we have to ensure that any one who wants to set up Information Kiosk at any place in the country is not only freed from all government regulations and licenses but also is encouraged through evolving simple and attractive financing schemes offered by banks and financial institutions. The model of growth evolved in the country by Cable TV operators could be used as a base for evolving such a scheme where initially for many years government had not at all intervened. The sector grew with large number of cable operators operating in neighborhood.

4.Enabling better Economic Condition of People The Working Group feels that in the ultimate analysis Information Technology must ensure improvement in economic status and purchasing power of the people at all levels. Some of the areas which have direct relevance / impact on economic status of the people and are expected to be addressed by IT in a big way are as follows:

i. Employment Generation

Large scale utilization of Information Technology in a manner that it will facilitate its reach to masses will result in massive new opportunities for employment generation. Some of the indications in this direction are already available in the manner in which two major industries have grown in the country in the last few years.

a. Cable industry, where large number of operators operate in the neighborhood to solve any problem faced by the users. Each one of these Operators employ a small number of people who are generally semi-skilled and learn on-the-job.

b. The other area is the off-shoot of large scale spread of cable TV reaching 30 to 40 million homes in the country. This has resulted in large number of TV channels with multilingual programming. As a result of such a massive programme requirements, the demand of TV programmes and as a result that of professionals who could work in various areas related to production of TV programmes such as journalists, music artistes, visual designers, scripting, acting etc. The success of TV channels depends directly on the viewership of its programme in the country. As a result TV programming has to cater to the taste of its target viewers, an issue which is not that well understood by IT industry yet. This development has resulted in large-scale employment generation in areas which were earlier not considered even employable. With the growth of Internet and its reach to masses in the country, such opportunities are expected to grow manifold. Millions of students and youngsters who remain jobless in spite of doing graduation and post graduation could be made employable by making them capable of handling IT tools. The technological developments in IT are ensuring that such tools do not require extensive knowledge of computer science. Moreover, as these tools become available in Indian languages with at least as much ease of operations as presently in English, the application development in IT would become very widespread and thus create massive employment opportunities.

(ii) Direct Marketing of Rural/ Agro Products One of the important components of improving the socio-economic status of people in villages is to ensure that their products find right kind of markets and reach these markets in minimum time without number of middle men involved in it. The reach of IT to rural areas will provide unique opportunities to producers of rural products, agricultural/ agro- processing products, rural handicrafts etc. to have direct access to markets. Internet will enable advertising of rural products produced even in the remotest villages to global markets.

5. Educating Citizens about their duties Internet based information delivery systems in combination with conventional broadcast media, TV and Radio, could act as a major vehicle to educate citizens regarding their duties to the nation. This will immensely help in peopole’s participation in programmes like family welfare, conservation of environment, preservation of ethical, moral and cultural values.

VII. ISSUES IN TAKING IT TO MASSES For IT applications relevant to masses to be implemented in the country following major issues require to be handled on priority:

i. Establishment of IT Infrastructure including communication network of good quality and at affordable prices with its reach upto rural areas,

ii. Government regulations and procedures to be recast in a manner that IT infrastructure and services to be established by people at any place in the country and with whatever capacities be not only allowed but facilitated by the government without requiring to go through complicated procedures of approval.

Over the last few years, government has taken number of steps to enable private sector participation in Telecommunication which happens to be the most important pre-requisite for Internet based IT services. However, the progress on this front has been considerably slow as a result of which we have only around 0.7 million Internet users in the country. We need to ensure that a clear objective of achieving a target of 150 to 200 million Internet connections in the country is set to be achieved in next three years. All government policies/ procedures have to be worked backwards to ensure realization of these targets instead of conventional systems of working other way around where government procedures are simplified in a stepwise manner, its impact on the markets is studied and further simplification / liberalization is introduced.

iii. Government Funding Government funding for new programmes has severe limitations. In many programmes, government is not able to even fund reasonable sized pilot projects. Such situation is not likely to significantly improve in the next 2-3 years within which this report suggests a target of 150-200 million Internet connections. The only way, then, for the government is to initiate enabling processes which will ensure large scale participation of self-employed people in unorganized sector. Attractive and easy financing schemes witht commercial terms need to be launched by FIs / banks to make this happen.

VIII. ENABLING AND EMPOWERING MASSES THROUGH IT

The basic theme of the recommendations of the Working Group to realize the dream of taking IT to the masses in the country is built around the concept of Enabling and Empowering the masses. Government has to set in motion the processes which will enable anyone anywhere to set IT based services even if this results in excess supply of the services. The current practice built around the concept of controlled supply of services and resources through licensing and regulations should be completely done away with in this field. Having enabled people to enter the field of providing services,

it is essential that government empowers its citizens to demand services not only from government but service providers in general. Government has to play a significant role in this area and in fact should focus on ensuring as to how people could be empowered more and more to demand and get best of services in the market. Empowerment will require complete transparency in procedures to be followed by service providers in government as well as in private sector. These service providers should, by adequate laws, be asked to make information about their rules and procedures available to public. As a first step, and to set an example and create a role model, government has to get into a massive exercise of re-engineering of its own procedures by making extensive use of Electronic Governance. The same should be done for other service providers. Consumer protection laws and consumer courts must be sufficiently empowered to deal with complaints of consumers. Mechanisms should also be set in motion to ensure that these consumer courts do not get over-burdened with the complaints and end-up facing the same problems of large numbers which are being experienced by courts in the country. Consumer courts must themselves make extensive use of IT to resolve the disputes in reasonable time. Awareness regarding government rules, regulations, programmes and services is essential aspect of empowering the people. Till such time, IT infrastructure reaches the masses through Info-Kiosks and other means, Working Group recommends launch of IT Yatras across the country to be launched by NGOs, educational institutions and corporate sector.

IX. INITIATIVES ALREADY TAKEN BY CENTRAL & STATE GOVERNMENTS Over the years, Ministries/ Departments of Central and State Governments as well as number of associated agencies have been taking various initiatives to implement people-oriented IT Applications. The Working Group has noticed that in spite of considerable work done by the government in this area, the awareness regarding these is highly deficient at the level of people for whom these services are meant. Some of the major IT Applications in Central and State Governments are given at Annexures V and VI. The Working Group recommends that a massive awareness campaign must be launched by concerned ministries/ departments of Central / State Governments to make public aware of these services and be able to extract best of the services from the government in these areas.

X. CONCLUSION

The Working Group in its deliberations has extensively analyzed the current level of IT Applications in the country and its future potential. The Working Group is convinced that IT is probably the only solution for the fast paced socio-economic development in a country like India where the population of 1 billion could be converted into largest pool of human asset to fully exploit the benefit of technology to uplift their socio-economic conditions. Unlike conventional strategies of services being planned around government schemes and funding, the Working Group recommends that government should confine its role to set in motion enabling processes to facilitate mushrooming of large number of self-employed people and

groups in small and unorganized sector to develop and provide IT enabled services upto the remotest places in the country. On its part, government has to ensure that its presence becomes a facilitator and not a bottleneck. Towards this end all licensing provisions with respect to IT services should be removed completely making the market completely open for people in the country. Mass scale education and literacy programmes should be lunched through self-employed people in unorganized sector as well as by corporate sector to enable people to take informed decisions. The Working Group has identified some applications of higher priorities to be undertaken at different levels in the country at the earliest. Pursuing such applications by the Government following the recommended model of enabling large-scale participation of people in its implementation will go a long way in taking the benefit of IT to masses in the country.

ANNEXURE-V

1. MAJOR IT APPLICATIONS IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

2. RELEVANT TO MASSES

Agriculture Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has accepted the IT-PLAN submitted by NIC and formulated (i) Central Sector Scheme to strengthen IT both in the Department and its Attached/Sub-ordinate offices at a Project Cost of Rs.25 Corers, (ii) a centrally Sponsored Scheme for establishing "NICNET based Agricultural Informatics & Communication (AGRISNET)" in 25 states and 520 districts, one NCT and 6 U.Ts during Ninth Plan with the Project Cost estimate (both Non-recurring and Recurring) of Rs.155.74 Crores. Revised project proposals for the both schemes were submitted for getting EFC approval. As suggested by the Department of Expenditure, establishment of AGRISNET Nodes in 6000 Block Agriculture offices, as stipulated in the IT-PLAN with the cost estimate (Non-recurring) of about Rs.255 Crores and Recurring Cost of Rs.44 Crores, is to be taken up during Tenth Plan. Project review of the National Project on "Computerization of Agricultural Census (1995-96) and Input Survey (1996-97)" on turn-key basis with a cost estimate of Rs.9.40 Crores was undertaken. A project Proposal for establishing "NICNET based Agricultural Marketing Informatics Network (AGMARK-NET)" in 710 Agricultural Produces Marketing Committees (APMCs), on a turn-key basis with the project cost estimate of Rs.10 Crores was submitted and an EFC Note to this effect was on circulation for approval. Computerization and Networking projects in APEDA, NHB, TMOP, Crops Directorates, Trade Division and CDB were completed. Computerization and Networking project in MPEDA was taken up as a paid project. Project study Report on "GIS for Watershed Management" of the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, in 5 Pilot districts were submitted. LAN with 450 Nodes was established in Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan Wings of the Department.

As the Member-Secretary of the Core-Group (V) "Agricultural Resources Information System" of the NNRMS Standing Committee on Agriculture and Soils of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, the draft report was prepared and submitted to the Principal Advisor (Agriculture), Planning Commission and Chairman of the Core Group (V). As desired in the meeting of Core-Group (V), the draft report has been sent to ICAR Institutes, State Agricultural Universities, NABARD, and Department of Land Resources, for their suggestions. Review meetings of ICAR Task Force on "Digitization of Databases" under NATP were undertaken twice under the chairmanship of the Director General (NIC). Animal Husbandry and Dairying IT-PLAN for the Animal Husbandry Sector was presented in a seminar "IT for Dairy Research" organized by National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI). This IT-PLAN envisages establishment of a NICNET based Animal Production and Health Informatics Network (APHNET) in the country. Project proposal to strengthen IT component of National Rinderpest Eradication Programme was submitted to the Department. NICNET based Animal Disease Surveillance Information System (ADSIS) was continuing. NICNET services were continued to NDDB Regional Offices. Presentation of the IT-Plan on Fisheries Sector (Fisheries Informatics Network) was presented in a seminar organized by the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai. Agricultural Research and Education NICNET based Agricultural Research Information System (ARISNET) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is equipped with about 80 NICNET VSATs installed at ICAR Institutes and State Agricultural Universities, to strengthen Agricultural Research and Education in the Country. About 100 ARIS Nodes have been connected to NICNET via dial-up lines for Internet services. ARISNET envisages to link 4 Deemed Universities (IARI, IVRI, NDRI & CIFE), one Central Agricultural University, 85 ICAR Institutes/Directorates, 28 State Agricultural Universities, 107 Agricultural University Colleges, 261 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and about 850 Agricultural Research Stations located through out the country. NIC executed an order worth of Rs.1.5 Crores to provide computer systems to further intense computerization in ICAR Hqrs. Under a Consultancy Service contract, about 2000 Computer systems procured under the World Bank aided National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) and Agricultural Human Resources Development (AHRD) Program of ICAR, were tested and handed over to ICAR. Value-added services were provided to ARIS centres with respect to SUN Solaris System for using it as an Intranet server which was made operational and integrated with NICNET VSATs for internet services in the State Agricultural Universities at Akola, Hissar, Jabalpur Ludhiana, Palampur, Samastipur and Solan, and ICAR Institutes (CIAE, CIFE, CIFT, CRIDA, CSWRTI, DRR, IASRI, IVRI , NBAGR, NBPGR, NBSS&LUP and NDRI). Proposals for establishing LAN under paid projects were submitted to Indian Veterinary Research Institute (Izatnagar & Mukteshwar), Krishi Anusandhan Bhawan (I &II) and ICAR Hqrs, Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural

Universiry (Jabalpur), Birsa Agricultural University (Ranchi). A web-enabled applications on library system for ICAR were made operational. Arts and Culture Feasibility report on the development of computerized documentation of art objects and antiquities preserved in Museums viz., Allahabad Museum (Allahabad), Indian Museum (Calcutta), National Museum (New Delhi), Salar Jung Museum (Hyderabad), and Victoria Memorial Hall (Calcutta), was submitted for approval. Audit Implementation of AGNET over NICNET, linking the offices of the Accountant Generals & Auditor Generals, Principal Directorates of Accounts of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, was on-going. NICNET services were continued for the office of CAG and its filed offices. NIC has deputed one Officer at the level of Deputy Director General to the office of the CAG, as Advisor(IT). An intranet web site was created with the audit reports of the Year 1996-97 and 1997-98. Central Vigilance Commission NICNET services were provided to Central Vigilance Commission at Satarkta Bhavan. Databases on vigilance cases and Chief Vigilance officers (CVO) related to more than 600 organizations of the Central Government Ministries and Departments, Public Sector Units and Public Sector Banks, were updated. CVC Web Site (http://www.nic.in/cvc) was launched and instructions were issued by the CVC to lodge vigilance complaint through the web site. This web site has details on instructions, circulars, and notes issued by the CVC, for access. Project consultations to establish "CVCNET - An Intranet over NICNET", linking Chief Vigilance Officers of the Central Government, were held. Civil Aviation A comprehensive computerization plan was prepared in consultation with the Bureau Of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for automation of photo identity cards being used for entry to various airports. The system has been implemented at four regional offices of BCAS in Calcutta, Chennai. Delhi, and Mumbai. It is proposed to develop web enabled applications for DGCA MIS applications. Commerce and Supply Web enabled application for license processing and its electronic interface with trade and industry was made operational. The Export - Import Policy, procedure, ITC(HS) database and Rate Contract information were hosted on Internet. An Electronic Data Interchange based system for the benefit of Small and Medium enterprises were developed for interaction with Regional offices of Directorate General of Foreign Trade. The major Regional offices of Directorate General of Supply and Disposal have also been networked through NICNET. Structuring trade related documents under EDI was on-going. Communications NICNET services were provided to the Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunication, including Wireless Planning Cell.. . NIC implemented software packages for Telecom Accounting in 20 Circles and 4 Metros and demonstrated MIS

software for installation at Telecom Hqs, 4 metros, 20 Circles, and 321 Secondary Switching Areas (SSAs) of DOT. Computerization of Postal Life Insurance (for government employees) in 20 Postal Circles and Rural Postal Life Insurance in 20 Postal Circles and 25 out of 45 Regional Offices, sponsored by the Department of Posts, were completed. Computerization of preparation of PLI schedules in 200 out of 865 Head Post Offices (HPOs) was completed so far and is on-going in the remaining HPOs, as per the schedule of the Department of Posts. Development of Software in NT Platform is on-going with respect to Savings Bank Accounting which was earlier implemented in Delhi (7 HPOs), Mumbai (2 HPOs), Punjab (1 HPO), and Army Postal Service (1CBPO and 99CBPO), under Oracle/Unix environment. Implementation of Postal Accounting Computerization in 20 Postal Circles was completed. Pilot Project was undertaken to computerize "cash certificate" vi. Indira Vikas Patra, National savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, in Tamilnadu CircleEstablishment of "POSTALNET" – an Intranet over NICNET – has been initiated. Cooperatives Ministry of Agriculture has decided to implement NICNET based Information system on Cooperatives throughout the country. Project on "Total-IT" solution for National Cooperatives Development Council (NCDC) and NICNET connectivity to its 15 Regional Offices, was implemented as a turn-key project. Project on " Cooperative Informatics" was under implementation in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Project Proposal on a countrywide network for IFFCO was submitted. An EFC Note has been circulated for computerization of Cooperative Statistics, as a turn-key project, with the project cost of about Rs.10 Crores. COURTS INFORMATION SYSTEM PROGRAMME (COURTIS ) Interactive Voice Response System (IVR) for providing Supreme Court's pending/disposed cases information on telephone to the litigant/advocates has been implemented. The second version of JUDIS-CD using Folio text based retrieval software has been brought out. Delhi High Court and Madhya Pradesh Cause List has been made available on Internet on daily basis. Supreme Court Cause List has also been made available on Internet for the benefit of advocates and litigants. The District Court Information System (DCIS) has been implemented in the District Courts of Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh. The District Court Staff has been fully trained in the usage of the DCIS in almost all the District Courts. DCIS software has been implemented in most of the District Courts and these District Courts are taking out Daily Cause List from the computer system provided by NIC. NIC conducted computer awareness courses for the District Judges of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa.

1. Economic Affairs

NIC has provided computerization support for the Budget 1999-2000 preparation. NIC has designed and developed the software for monitoring of Externally Assisted Projects (EAMIS) and made operational in the Ministries of Finance, Power, Agriculture, Surface Transport, Health and Family Welfare, and Urban Affairs and Employment, and also in 9 States. EAMIS software supports on-line monitoring of projects. Internet access has been provided 450 nodes with radio frequency link for internet services in the North Block Wing of the Ministry of Finance. Budget Documents (1999-2000), Budget Speech (1999-2000) of the Hon’ble Finance Minister and Economic Survey (1998-1999) Report were available through its "NICNET web site" to the Public. Project activities related to computerization of National Savings Organization (NSOs) were initiated in 6 states. Education An Internet web services (http://www.education.nic.in) and also an Intranet web server ("webedu") was developed over the NICNET LAN established in the Department. These sites were visited extensively by Indian Parents &Students, NRIs, and Foreign Students. "webedu" links to central Universities, CD-ROM Series -I (Vol.I & II) and CD-ROM Series-II(Vol.I to XI) containing reports of the All India Educational Survey were released. NICNET services were continued to Copyright Office, Kendriya Vidyala Sangatan, Directorate of Adult Education, Navodhya Viadyala Sangatan, and NCERT. Web enabled applications were developed for various centrally sponsored schemes (Mid-day Meal schemes, Non-Formal education, Operational Black Board, etc) of the Department. Technical repot on creation of CD-ROM on Hindi Encyclopedia was submitted. The Department has formulated Central Sector Scheme on Information Technology viz. Induction of Information Technology in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatan (KVS) & Nayodhya Vidyalaya Sangatan (NVS), and Revised CLASS Scheme (CLASS-2000), with an outlay of Rs.200 Crores during Ninth and Tenth Plan. Energy NICNET services and MIS support were provided to Central Electricity Authority(CEA), Ministry of Power(MOP), Ministry of Coal(MOC), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MOP&NG), Department of Chemical & Petrochemicals (DC&PC) and Ministry of Non conventional Energy Sources(MNES). IT-Plan report has been prepared and submitted to MOP, MOC, MOP&NG, DC&PC and MNES. Implementation of POWERNET - An Intranet over NICNET - was taken up and VSATs were installed at 12 State Electricity Boards (SEBs). POWERNET is a sponsored project of Power Finance Corporation of India, funded by USAID. Implementation of Central Power Public Sector Units Network (CPSU-NET) with 64 KBPS SCPC VSAT was undertaken. NIC provided all necessary support services to the Power sector with respect to Y2K-Preparedness. Special training on "Rollover Test in Power sector" was conducted. NICNET support services for Y2K Rollover were made available to the Energy Sector. Project proposal for establishment of COALNET linking Public Sector Units of the Ministry was under preparation. Project activities related to bring 80 C-200 VSATs installed by VSNL for Coal India Limited (CIL) under NICNET were initiated. Establishment of NICNET based Renewable Energy Informatics Network (RE-NET) to link state nodal agencies, regional offices of the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, State Electricity Boards, Manufactures and R&D institutions in the area of renewable energy, was on-going. MNES has allocated about Rs. 6.0 Crores for the Information Technology Programme in the Ministry during Ninth Plan. Environment & Forests

An Internet Server has been established in the Ministry. Environment and Forest Clearance for Development projects ar e being provided on-line in the web site of this Ministry. A decision support system for resource management and setting up research priorities related to Forest has been developed for the Indian Council of Forest Research and Education. Species Recognition System has been developed for Forest Research Institute for identifying the wood samples being provided by different organizations.

External Affairs NIC has provided operational support for fully computerised Passport Offices at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bareilly,Bhopal,Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kochi, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Thiruvanthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, and Vishakapatinam, and other Ministry Divisions at Akbar Bhavan, South Block, Patiala House, ICCR, and ISIL Building etc. Passport Computerization Project was made Y2K compliant. New version of Tele-enquiry system has been installed to handle multilingual queries by the public. Web site (http://passport.nic.in) related to public services in the area of Passport, Visa and PIO card was launched. Database on NRIs was developed and installed in about 160 Missions abroad.

Expenditure NIC has been actively working for the development and implementation of computer based information systems in the office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure. Enhancement of packgaes (IMPROVE, CONTACT, and GAINS) was undertaken. All accounting packages were made Y2K O.K. Office of the Controller General of Accounts has taken up development of PAO (PAO-2000) software on VB6/SQL server, for implementation in 272 PAOs. Under this project, NIC will undertake installation and training of officials in 272 PAOs. Design and Development of Computer based Financial Advisory System for decision support in various offices of Financial Advisors (FAs) of the Department of Expenditure, located in various Central Government Ministries/Departments was initiated. Fertilizer The sponsored project of the Department of Fertilizers titled "Integrated Fertilizer MIS [IFMIS]" with the cost estimate Rs. 1.99 Crores was nearing completion. With the installation of LAN with UTP cabling, development of web enabled applications was initiated. An Intranet over NICNET for divisions of the Department located in various buildings was established. "Y2K Compliance in the Fertilizers Sector" seminar was organized in collaboration with the Department and the Fertilizers Sector participated. User manuals on various modules, based on IEEE standards, have been prepared and submitted to the Department. IT Plan for the Department was approved with an outlay of Rs. 3.85 Crores during Ninth Plan. Fertiliser Informatics Network (FERTNET), which is an Intranet over NICNET, has been established by installing FTDMA VSATs at Department of Fertlizers and different sites of IFFCO, NFL, MFL, GNFC, alongwith dial-up connectivity to FCI and HFCL. FTDMA VSATs with voice to 8 NFL Plants/Zonal offices and dial-up connectivity to 30 NFL Area offices have been established to strengthen their decision support system. Project initiatives were undertaken to extend NICNET connectivity to other companies of fertilizer sector to strengthen FERTNET.

Food, Public Distribution & Consumer Affairs FCI Intranet over NICNET was established linking FCI offices at districts, regions and zones. Business Information Management at central warehousing Corporation (CWC) was computerized. Web enabled programs were developed for data access related to prices data, food-grain bulletins, directory of sugar

factories, and directory of consumer forums. IT-PLANs submitted by NIC have been approved by the respective ministries and Budget outlay was earmarked for 1999-2000 and 2000-01. GISTNIC Informatics Programme Design and development of the following information products was carried out

• World Wide Web Based services

• Telne Services

• FTP Services

• GISTNIC Sandesh

• Lekha-G

• NICNET based Services

• Other Media based Services The information contained include the demographic information, economic information, social information, business and industrial statistics, foreign trade information, banking and finance related information, agriculture statistics, universities information, the tourism information, agricultural commodities, prices information prevailing at 95 market centres in A.P (which is being updated daily),etc. The URL for availing the service is http://gist.ap.nic.in/ Design and development of Computer Telephony Integration (CIT) Technology based system for capturing price related information from remote markets, to update computerised data through an ordinary telephone instrument. Health and Family Welfare NICNET services were provided to Department of Health, Department of Family Welfare and Department of Indian System of Medicines & Homeopathy. NICNET website for the Ministry has been created for internet access. NICNET services were provided to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for allotment of Medical/ Dental seats under the Central Quota of Under Graduate and Post-Graduate Courses in India, as directed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Software programs were implemented to computerize activities related to "Community Needs Assessment Approach in Family Welfare Program", in project districts. Development of Web database on "traditional medicinal plants in India & their uses", to eliminate foreign patent on traditional knowledge resources of India, was on-going.

1. Home Affairs NICNET services were provided to the Department of Internal Security, Department of States, Department of Jammu & Kashmir Affairs, Department of Home, and Department of Official Language. NIC has provided advisory support for execution of IT projects in various Central Police Organizations viz., Assam Riffles, BSF, CISF, CRPF, DCPW, ITBP, NCRB, and NSG. NIC has computerized and networked NSCBIA (Calcutta) & Land Check Post (Haridaspur) on Indo-Bangla Border on NICNET facilitating interchangeability of Port of Entry & Exit, as a part of Computerization of Visa Control Project for Bangladesh Nationals. Project activities related to the implementation of Visa Control System Project at High Commission of India (Dhaka) including

NICNET connectivity to facilitate data interchange between HCI (Dhaka), NSCBIA (Calcutta) & Land Check Post (Haridaspur) on Indo-Bangla Border were undertaken. Decision Support System , with input from "COURTIS" Project, was designed and implemented in the Department of Justice. An internet site for the Ministry of Home Affairs (http://mha.nic.in) over NICNET is on-going. Software for Computerizing MHA Identity Cards for Government officials, was developed and tested and handed over to MHA for implementation. A NICNET Training Centre was established in MHA for IT training. All systems including Immigration Control System were made Y2K Compliant ensuring smooth roll over on 01-01-2000. A Bilingual web site was designed and put into use over the LAN in the Department of Official Language. Promotion of bilingual computerization was undertaken in pilot departments. Industry NICNET services were provided to the Departments of Company Affairs, Heavy Industries, Industrial Development, Industrial Policy & Promotion, Mines, Public Enterprises, Food processing Industries, Small Scale Industries & Rural Industries, and Steel, and BIFR, MRTP Commission and Tariff Commission. NIC has undertaken major turn-key projects which include computerization and networking of Registrar of Company Affairs (ROC) offices and computerization of District Industries Centre (DIC). As a result of success of Phase – I of the ROC Project, Phase – II dealing with process of registration was approved with the project cost of Rs.19.97 Crores (non-recurring) and Rs.1.94 Crores (Recurring). Under the DIC Computerization Project NICNET based Information System for smooth flow of SSI related data from DICs to State Directorates of Industries and DCSSI Headquarters and dissemination of information from States Directorates of Industries to DICs, was made operational. DCSSI has received monthly production data from about 20,000 Units manufacturing about 500 items, over NICNET. Y2K Compliance reports on NIC Services and Systems were submitted and these reports were sent to other ministries as "model document.

ANNEXURE-VI MAJOR IT-APPLICATIONS & OTHER SERVICES AT NIC STATE/ UT CENTRES

1. NIC Andhra Pradesh State Centre

Andhra Pradesh State Centre continued to provide NICNET services to the State Government with greater coverage, additional services and extension of the existing services to more users. Several turnkey projects were taken up. Some of the projects where NICNET services have been extensively used are :

o Software developed and implemented for the Mandal Level Computerisation Programme of Andhra Government covering the areas

Land Records, Land Aquisition, Civil Supplies, Payroll. First Version Implemented in 308 Mandal offices.

o Implementation of Birth & Death Registration System in the Municipality.

o Web Site launched for the speedy dissemination of information like, Vacancy position in MBBS/BDS, Engineering Admissions, Common Entrance Test results,

MCA, MBA etc..

- Web Sites launched for various Government departments like, Agriculture Marketing, Education, Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ground Water, DGS&D, AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad etc. - Development and implementation of the Property Tax Information System for the L.B. Nagar Municipality. - Development of a District Accounting System for the food Corporation of India. It is being implemented by all FCI-districts in the state.

o RF links established for various offices like High Court, CCMB , Kendriya Sadan etc

o Implementation of District Accounting System ( DIAS) for Food Corporation of India. Training the staff of FCI on the above.

o FEM analysis of the Radial Gates of Singur Reservoir for the Irrigation Department.

o Email and Internet connectivity extended to various district offices and forest offices.

- 26 Training programmes were organised covering around 525 officials of the State Governments. Applications based training programmes also conducted and more than 1000 officials participated.

2. NIC – Arunachal Pradesh State Centre. NICNET facilities have been provided for development of Software for various state government departments. NICNET facilities are being used to exchange information between the State Secretariat and the districts of the State. Several application software has been developed for the State Government. Some of them are :

o Major Databases developed for 11th Finance Commission, Electoral rolls, Below Poverty Line Census( BPL).

o Software Packages for Targeted Public Distribution System ( TPDS) for the Civil Supplies Department, File Management Software for the CM’s Secretariat.

o Unified Fund Monitoring Package to monitor the expenditure incurred under various schemes.

o A file monitoring software was developed and implemented for the office of the Chief Secretary.

o MIS for the department of Education which manages all the requirements of the department.

o Computerisation support to various department like Health Services, Rural Development, Agriculture, Planning and Urban Development.

3. NIC – ASSAM State Centre. NIC has been providing NICNET based services to all the State Government Departments. A video conferencing studio has been set up at the State Secretariat, which is being regularly used by various State Government. NIC has helped in the study, design and development of several applications some of them are :

o Release of Regional Resource Database on the WWW.

o Software packages for various applications like, Revenue Collection, Public Distribution System, Crime Statistics and Registration Births and Deaths etc.

o Computerisation of Treasury and Sub-Treasury. A detailed SRS is being prepared.

o Computerisation support for the Election Management and Result Transmission during the Parliamentary Elections.

o Implementation of the Treasury Accounting Software.

o MIS developed for various Government schemes such as Shallow Tube Well, Welfare of Tribes & Backward Classes, State Human Riots Commission etc.

o E-mail and Internet access facility to Government Departments.

o Training programmes were conducted for the various departments of the state government.

4. NIC Bihar State Unit NICNET services have been provided for the computerisation of various Government Departments. Computerisation support has been extended for the following :

o GPF Computerisation. A statewide GPF computerisation is being done at all the districts after seeing the successful implementation of the GPF Directorate.

o Statewide District Treasury Computerisation. It is proposed to implement district treasury computerisation at 20 more districts and the plan proposal has been approved.

o Various packages developed for Bihar State Electricity Board ( for billing) and Commercial Tax Monitoring System for the Finance Department and NICTRAN package for the Transport Department.

o Continued support to the High Court and District Court Computerisation programme.

o Public Distribution Monitoring system has been developed.

o Provide IT supports for the Enhancement of Computerisation of Governor’s office, Bihar Education Project Council.

o Database development for various sectors like Economy, Finance, Rural Development, Urban Development, Education, Transport and other sectors.

o A number of training programmes was organised.

5. NIC Chandigarh (UT) Centre NICNET services are being utilised for the following -

o Web Site for Chandigarh, which includes planning and architecture, city government, city map, tourist information, chandigarh police.

o Information Sytems / Databases for

o PIS for the Chandigarh Administration

o Industrial Electricity Billing

o Motor Vehicle registration and Driving Licenses

o Budget Information System for the Engineering Department.

o Technical Services to various Boards, corporation and central Government Department.

o Setting of UP Information Facilitation Counters at UT secretariat and DC’s office.

- Internet services to various departments.

o Development and hosting of a web page for the Chandigarh Housing Board.

6. NIC Delhi NCT Centre NICNET Services are being used by large number of State Government Department viz., Food and Civil Supplies Department, Education Department, Office of the Chief Minister, office of LG etc. NICNET services have been used for the following Information services:

- CM office computerization’s has been accomplished, which involved implementation of various packages for file maintenance, public grievances, control room monitoring for DVB, CM Project Monitoring System. - Computerisation of Industry and Planning Department and Registrar of Cooperative societies. - Delhi Government WEB site was created and hosted. - Packages were developed for the Directorate of Family Welfare for Pulse Polio. - 3 district centers were made operational.

o Setting of computer network at different buildings of the Delhi Government.

o Various other packages like, Marriage Certificates, relief work, and expenditure statement.

7. NIC Goa State Unit NICNET services have been utilized in the development and implementation of the following information system:

o Implementation of Sales Tax Monitoring System, Registration of Births & Deaths, House rent and Tax Collection, Trade and Occupation Licensing, Construction Licensing for Municipal Corporation, PIS for police Department.

o Office Procedure Automation implemented in the collectorate.

o Setting of NITPU.

o Implementation of the List of Business Information System at Panaji Bench of Bombay High Court

o Implementation of the Land Records Information System in the State

o Implementation of the Office Procedure Information System at South Goa Collectorate.

o Implementation of RPLI and PLI in the Postal Department.

o Computerisation of various censuses like Agriculture, Economic, Forest etc..

Various training programmes were organised for officials of the Goa Government. Around 300 officials were covered during these programmes.

8. NIC Gujarat State Centre. Continued efforts are being put in making NICNET facilities available to All State Government Departments, several offices of the state government located outside the secretariat. Major achievements in providing informatics services include:

o Support in Implementation of Treasury Information System

o LAN for the new High Court Building..

o Continued support for the High Court Computerisation

o Implementation of the District Court Information System at the District Courts.

o Training programme in the application pakages and general IT to various officials from state as well as district.

9. NIC Haryana State Unit NICNET services have been provided to several government departments. Several information systems have been developed for the above mentioned departments. Some of the major achievements are:

o Full-fledged Intranet created in the Civil Secretariat and database access services were made available to the CM and others.

o Web Site hosted for many departments like, HSIDC,Tourism etc.

o Packages like Village Information System, Public Information Facilitation System, Project Progress Monitoring System.

o All the blocks of Fatehabad District linked to District HQ through Dial Up links.

o Web site hosting the Daily causes of the High Court.

o IT support to all the DRDAs

o Email and Internet Services and support to various departments and district offices.

o Computerisation support to the District Industries Centers in the State

o Training programmes were organised at the State Secretariat and District Centers of NIC

10. NIC Himachal Pradesh State Unit NICNET facilities have been extended to various departments at the State Secretariat. NICNET services are being used for the following applications:

o Internet and E-mail services to various departments.

o Implementation office automation at the Chief Minister’s office.

o Continued support for maintaining various databases at the State, which help the government in following areas.

! Vehicle expenditure Monitoring

! Implementation of Cabinet Decisions

! House Allotment

! Personnel Management

! Monitoring Court Cases.

o Budget Information Processing System

o Support for Land Records Computerisation

o Continued support for the District Treasuries Computerisation in the State.

11. NIC Jammu and Kashmir State Centre NICNET services have been provided to the State Secretariat, all the District of the State, the High Court and several District Courts. NICNET services are being utilised for the following informatics services :

o Official Web Site of J& K Government.

o Video Conferencing, E-mail and Internet Access to the State Secretariat.

o Implementation of the Treasury Information System in several treasuries of the State.

o Computerisation of various departments like, CPF organisation, Sales tax, GPF.

o File Monitoring System for the Secretariat has been implemented.

o Training and Workshops conducted in various fields.

12. NIC - Karnataka State Unit NICNET Services have been provided for computerisation of various state government departments. The major achievements are :

o Implementation of Accounting, PIS and letter monitoring package at Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited.

o Installation of Hardware /Software like, Pension Scheme, PF recovery etc. In the regional PF office.

o Service Rules were put on the net for instant and ready reference for the day to day operations.

o Computerisation of various departments likes Agriculture, 3 Sub-registrars office, Regional Transport Offices.

o Networking of Commercial Tax Assessment circles in Bangalore.

o Implementation of Permit Monitoring System for Commissionerates and District Excise Office.

o Implementation of Public Grievance Monitoring System. Computerised system for Classification, Control and Appeal for the staff.

o Web sites for various departments designed and launched.

o Various results like the SSLC, Common Entrance Test hosted on the Internet for public.

o Various Databases made for departments like Education, Small Scale Industries have been hosted on the Internet.

o Daily Cause list of the High Court published on the Internet with search facility.

13. NIC Kerala State Centre NICNET services have been provided to the State Government Departments, all the Districts, the High Court and several District Courts. NICNET facilities are being utilised for development of database and information system. Some of them are :

o Several packages developed and implemented like, Weights and Measures Registration & Verification System, Expenditure and Activity Monitoring System, LOC preparation System

o Representation Monitoring System for the Backward Class Commission

o Budget monitoring System for the Finance Department

o Implementation of PLI and RPLI in the Post Offices.

o Database creation for the Overseas Development & Employment Promotion

Consultancy.

o Computerisation of Passport office, Labour Commissioner’s office and High courts and district courts.

o Computerisation of Land Records in the State

o Development of MIS for the Public Works Department.

o Continued support to the computerisation programme on Treasury Computerisation in the State.

o Preparation of a proposal for extending NICNET Services up to the block and village level in the State.

14. NIC Lakshadweep UT Centre NICNET services are being utilised by the several islands in Lakshadweep, the Kochi office of the Lakshadweep administration and Liaison Officer, Lakshadweep, New Delhi. NIC, Lakshadweep UT Centre is providing Informatics support for the following :

o Computerised advance ship ticket reservation system introduced at Kochi, Calicut and all other major ports of Lakshadweep.

o Inventory Control Package for the Electricity Subdivisions at Minicoy, Kochi, kavaratti and Beypore.

o Provided Computer systems with multimedia and Internet facilities to teachers in all the high schools.

o IT supports to Chief Electoral Officer.

o Internet access facility to several government department.

15. NIC - Madhya Pradesh State Centre Video Conferencing, Internet access and E-mail services have been provided to Central Government Offices, State Government Offices, Public Sector Undertakings and State Government undertakings through NICNET. A Home Page for the State was prepared which has been hosted under the India Image Programme of NIC. Major achievements in providing informatics services include:

o Software package on Community Needs Assessment Approach completed and software to be implemented in all the other states.

o Retrieval system on Compendium of office orders, Circulars and forms.

o PIS for the panchayat inspectors of Social Welfare department implemented.

o Upgraded version of Treasury Accounting Information System (TRACIS Ver 3.0) to accommodate various other requirements of the department.

o Implementation of Pension Accounting and management System (PAMS) for

district Treasuries.

o Results of various competitive exams like Pre Engineering, Pre Medical, Pre Pharmacy etc. were made available online for the benefit of public.

o Implementation of RF network setup to extend high-speed connectivity between Mantralaya, Vidhan Sabha, NITPU and NIC state unit.

o Work in progress for the establishment of 6 new tribal district centers.

o Implementation of Rate Analysis System completed for Rural Engineering Services.

o Information exchange services through NICNET for the management of the Gram Sampark Abhiyan programme of the state government.

o Several training programmes for various departments of the State Government . Around 500 officers and staff were covered in these programmes.

o Implementation of DRDA project in the state. Hardware, software and LAN facility has been implemented in all the DRDAs in the state

o Establishment of NIC District Court Centers and implementation of District Court Information system in the various district courts of the state.

16. NIC - Maharashtra State Centre Maharashtra State Unit continued to provide NICNET service to State Government Departments and Central Government Departments, NGOs and Co-operative Societies in the State. The coverage of E-mail, Internet Access and Video Conferencing services were enlarged considerably. NICNET services were used for the following projects:

o Networking at the Mahrashtra Secretariat established and connected to NICNET via RF link and Video Conferencing setup established and made operational in the Secretariat.

o Various software packages were developed for various departments like, CM’s information systems, Registry Computerisation for Finanace Department, Ways and Means Monitoring System for Rural Development, Savings investment information system for Directorate of Small Savings.

o IT supports for various central government departments like Zoological Survey of India, Central Poultry Board, Estate manager’s office.

o Video Conferencing support to state government.

o Implementation of District Court Information System (DCIS) for the district courts of the state.

o Training and Workshops on IT.

17. NIC Manipur State Centre Continued support in providing NICNET connectivity to various state government departments and Deputy Commissioner in the districts. NICNET services are used for following information support for the State Government.

o Support to the SSI Registration Information System.

o E-mail connectivity to various state government departments.

o MEDLARS support to various institutions. 18. NIC - Meghalaya State Centre NIC has provided informatics support to various Central Government agencies and State Government Departments, which include the following :

o Web site creation for Meghalaya state and other departments like, Electricity Board, Industrial Development Corporation, Tourism etc.

o Implementation of Software Package for LOA and LOC in all the district treasury. First phase of treasury computerisation project implemented.

o Loan Monitoring System for the finance department.

o Computerisation support to the Public Health Engineering Department for the management of the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission.

o Computerisation support in the preparation of the state budget.

o Establishment of Computer Centre at the Food & Civil Supplies department and networking it with the District office.

o Computerisation of district rural development agency.

o Implementation of DRDA project in the state. Hardware, software and LAN facility has been implemented in all the DRDAs in the state.

o Internet and Email connectivity to various state departments and corporations in the state.

19. NIC Mizoram State Centre NICNET facilities have been provided to various departments of Government of Mizoram. NICNET services are being utilised for the following projects:

o Implementation of the Land Records Information System for the Directorate of Land Records, Government of Mizoram.

o Computer based enumeration of State Government employees.

o Budget preparation for the State Government.

o Computerised assessment of financial resources for 1999-2000.

o NICNET support for the monitoring of developmental and social welfare programmes.

20. NIC Nagaland State Centre NICNET facilities have been provided to several departments of the State Government.

o Transmission of monthly data for National Sample Survey Organisation.

o Continued support on the post Implementation of the Arms License Information systems at district level.

o Database to keep track of the Civil list of the State Government.

o MIS implemented for the departments in the state.

o Continued support to the NICNET based Monitoring system for ICDS Project. 21. NIC - Orissa

NICNET services have been provided to Departments of the State Government and District Administration. NICNET Services have been effectively utilised in the following areas.

o Coputerisation of Sales Tax for Circle COSTIC.

o Computerisation of various departments like, Finance, Industries.

o Various Packages and Databases developed like Budget Information System, Budget Forecasting and Analysis, Finance Commission Data Analysis System, Letter of Credit Monitoring system, Small Savings Deposit Scheme.

o Central Assitance Review and Monitoring System

o Implementation of court case monitoring system in 10 districts.

o Implementation Pension grievance Monitoring System.

o GIS application on Relief Monitoring in Orissa during Super Cyclone 22. NIC Pondicherry State Centre NICNET facilities have been provided to the Government of Pondicherry and District Administration. NICNET services are being used to implement and to support IT in the key sectors of economy. Some of the achievements are:

o Exchange of information with the Central Government Department.

o Continued support in the implementation of the Birth and Death Information System.

o Computerisation support to the Transport Department

o Internet and email access facility to the Government Departments.

o Imparted training in the field of IT to various officials. 23. NIC - Punjab State Centre

NICNET facilities have been upgraded at NIC District Centers in the state. A web-page of Punjab Government was launched on NIC web server. Internet connectivity was made available in 4 districts, state Centre and the State secretariat. NICNET services are being utilised for development of following databases and information systems:

o Web Site for Punjab Government and Overseas Cell of Employment, Punjab Tourism and ASUDA.

o Implementation of Land Record Computerisation at various district level.

o Development of software for treasury department.

o Computerisation of District Rural Agency

o Establishment of Punjab Secretariat.

o Technical Support to Passport Office, PIB,FCI,GPO,Central Excise and Customs.

o Implementation of District Court Project

o Internet Access Facility to various Government Departments and at various districts.

24. NIC - Rajasthan State Centre NICNET facilities in the state has been improved with the installation of IPA and Direc-PC V-SATs in all the districts. A new NIC District Centre is established at Karauli.

o Implementation of Treasury Software in all the districts

o Implementation of New Judiciary System in 15 districts - Development and Implementation of Pension Revision System for Directorate of Pension.

o Implementation of Land Record Computerisation in Tehsils

o Execution of phase –III of assemble computrisation. 25. NIC - Sikkim State Centre

The following are the some of the major achievements - - Computerisation of Sikkim subject certification. - Computerisation of NSSO Sample Survey. - Computerisation of House Hold Survey of Sikkim - Computerisation of Agricultural census and input survey - Development of Departmaneal Expenditure Monitoring System - Computerisation of All Sikkim Health survey (ASHS - 1996) - Computerisation of Sukumbas; Survey (sukumbasi ie Sikkimese citizen who does not own any land holding) - Development of motor - vehicle Registration System for the Motor Vehicle Department.

- Computerisation of Chief Pay and Accounts Office. - Ration Card Computerisation - Computerisation support to the Agricultural Department - Computerisation of Food and Civil Supplies Department. - Computerisation of Urban Dev. & Housing Department - Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water mission computerisation - Development of a GIS based forest Information System.

26. NIC Tamil Nadu State Centre NICNET facilities have been provided to all state government departments at the secretariat through 130 nodes. NICNET services are being used for the following :

o Web hosting for various departments like, TN state Government, Depart ment of Tamil Culture and Development, Statistics etc.

o Dissemination of the results of the Xth Standard and Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations etc. through WWW and GISTNIC booths spread all over the state.

o MIS for Women’s Development Corporation and for IG prisons, Public Distribution System, Taluk information Systems.

o RF connectivity established between Secretariat and other complex for data transfer.

o Computerisation of all Sub-Treasuries and District Treasuries in the State.

o IT support to all the Export Promotion Zones

o Under the District Courts Computerisation programme, Systems have been installed at 20 district courts.

o Various Packages developed for Litigations monitoring, Teachers Recruitment Board and Online Bill Passing System for PAO’s at chennai.

o Creation and demonstration of Data Warehousing Application for the State with 7 (seven) Data Marks consisting of Village Amenities Data, India Economy Data, Rainfall Statistics, Prices of commodities, Agricultural Statistics, Material Statistics & School Statistics.

o Project Monitoring System for the PWD in Channai. 27. NIC Tripura State Centre NICNET services have been utilised in the state in providing E-mail, Internet Access, development of information system and IT related training. Some of the notable achievements of the state center are:

- Establishment LAN for the Main Secretariat. o Inforamtion Facilitation Counter in the main Secretariat

o Payroll Accounting System for the secretariat.

o Personal Information System for the secretariate.

o Web Site launched for the Tripura Government

o Database created for the HRD having all the details like, number of teachers, Students enrolled, infrastructure etc.

o Several Packages like Certificate Issue & Monitoring System, District Administration Monitoring System, Pension Payment System.

o Database of Reang Migrants created to keep track of suck migrants. Continued support for the implementation of

o Schools Information System

o Vehicle Master Database Maintenance System

o Land Acquisition Monitoring System. etc. 28. NIC - Uttar Pradesh State Centre. The U P State Unit continued to provide information support to the State Government Departments, Central Government Departments, The Allahabad High Court and other organisations under NICNET service domain. The NICNET services have been used for the development and implementation of several information system projects. Some of them are :

o Ten important Government buildings have been connected through a RF Link and LAN has been setup in these.

o Computerisation support to the Allahabad High Court.

o Implementation of the District Court Information System Software in the district court of the State.

o Computerisation support to the various departments of the State Government at the State Secretariat, Divisional Offices and the District Level Offices.

o Software package for Employment Exchange was implemented in few districts.

o All the treasuries of UP have been computerised.

o Internet support and services to several government departments.

o Implemented Tube-well monitoring.

o Implementation of Land Records Management Information System (LRMIS) in all the districts of U.P.

o Computer training was provided to many Government departments including officers of Secretariat, Employment Exchanges, and Treasury.

29. NIC - West Bengal State Unit

NIC services are being used by all the state government departments, for development of information system, communication between various departments, video conferencing and training in Information Technology. Some of the important projects implemented during the year are :

o PIS developed for Judicial Officers.

o Computerisation of 16 District courts completed.

o Commecial Tax Information System implemented. - Computerised system of land records maintenance has been implemented in 124 blocks. - Treasury Information System has been implemented in 31 additional treasuries of the state.

o Computerisation of Registrar offices, Public Vehicle Department, Regional Transport Offices, State Transport Authority.

o PLI and RPLI computerisation in Department of Post.

o MIS implemented for the Power Directorate.

o Digitisation of Mouza map is in progress. - Computerisation support to the Calcutta High Court. - Implementation of the District Court Information system in the district courts of the State. - Implementation of the computerised system for the preparation of the pension payment orders for the school teachers. - A computerised system was developed for monitoring of the file movement for the Finance Department. - E-mail and Internet Services to various State Government Departments. - Video conferencing facility over NICNET to various state government departments.

30. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Unit NICNET services have been extended to various departments. Some of the important ongoing computerisation projects are:

- Computerisation of the District Court o Internet and Email facility extended to various departments.

o Implementation of the Land Records Information System for the Directorate of Land Records.

31. Dadra and Nagar Haveli Unit NICNET Services are being utilised by several government departments. NICNET is being used extensively for exchange of information among government agencies. Some of the important projects implemented are :

o Implementation of Computerised Application Monitoring System in the collectorate

o Revision of Electoral Works.

o Report Generation for various departments.

o Land Records Computerisation

o Computerisation support to the DRDA

o Training in area of use of computers and computerised system.

o Use of E-mail over NICNET 32. NIC Daman and Diu Unit. NICNET services are being used by the U.T. Administration for

o Exchange of E-mail

o LAN setup at the secretariate

o Electoral roll computerisation.

o Exchange of data to the Central Government Departments

o Development of MIS for government departments

o Training on the use IT and various other packages. DISNIC Programme

IT Plan for the DISNIC-PLAN project has been submitted. Project discussion on Phase-II of the DISNIC Programme was initiated. Phase-II envisages an integrated system approach for development of informatics on agricultural development, rural development and backward area development, using Internet Technology Tools. Networking of about 65 Departments of Geography of various Universities and Institutions is considered to facilitate development of GIS based DSS on backward area development. Project discussions were held to provide NICNET services for ATMA centres under NATP project in 6 Pilot districts, in order to strengthen DISNIC-AGRIS Database Project. IT-PLAN of Natural Disaster Management and Relief Programme envisages to strengthen the DISNIC-NCRMS project in districts, in the Ninth Plan. Strengthening of DISNIC-AGRIS, DISNIC-Fisheries, and DISNIC-APHNET Database Projects has been planned under the "NICNET based Agricultural Informatics & Communication" Programme during 1999-2002.

Source: http://www.mit.gov.in/ 03/08/2001