Aman Kumar Singh, CEO, CHiPS (Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society), has a unique problem—80 percent of his state’s population lives in rural areas, and the only way he can ensure that IT makes an impact is by taking IT to them.
A.K. SINGH: Our IT policy lays stress on building comprehensive infrastructure down to the village level. This will not only help in enhancing access but will also introduce social development by supporting rapid economic development, facilitating distance education, improving levels of education and attracting investment.
The development agenda is very challenging for a state like Chhattisgarh given that 44 percent of our population belongs to Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Eighty percent of Chhattisgarh lives in rural areas and almost 45 percent of the state is covered by dense forest. IT helps in involving all the stakeholders in the process of governance in far-flung areas by cutting across distance and caste. It’s a very important tool for aggressively pushing the agenda of development.
Chhattisgarh’s taken a phased approach to e-governance. What does your road map look like?
The task of framing an e-Government Road Map has been initiated in order to identify various IT needs and to set priorities for departments. The first phase, which was completed in January 2006, saw the framing of the e-Government Vision, e-Government Strategy and e-Government Blueprint framed.
The aim of framing an e-government vision is to provide a strong focus on what is to be achieved by the state in five years. The objective of e-government strategy is to provide a high-level plan that will enable the government to realize its e-government vision and attain a position of leadership in e-governance by 2010. The e-Government Blue Print presents the big picture (top layer, linkage layers and operational layers) of the e-government portfolio of the state in terms of application, infrastructure, and standards and policies. It will serve as a ready visual reference to the key aspects of major e-government applications and initiatives. The document is currently under departmental review. In due course of time, it will be issued to all departments, who will be able to use it as a basis to implement e-governance in Chhattisgarh.
The second and third phases of the e-government road map deals with the e-government program and e-government ecosystem respectively, which will be taken up subsequently.
Can you give us details on e-procurement and SWAN? What do you expect from them?
A professional approach has been adopted in implementing e-procurement and SWAN in Chhattisgarh. E-procurement will provide the state with complete automation of the procurement cycle from cradle to grave. This includes proposal preparation, online approvals, online bid submissions, online agreements, online measurement books, e-payments and a comprehensive MIS on procurement activities. The system will encourage healthy bidding, resulting in an increase in bid numbers, reduction in both bid value and procurement cycle time.
E-procurement is expected to enhance efficiency and transparency in public procurement. The government aims to implement a single, unitary and end-to-end e-procurement solution across the state on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model. The system will be implemented on a pilot basis in four departments before it is rolled out to all departments in a span of five years.
The SWAN project will provide the state with a basic IT backbone, which will be used to carry data and voice traffic, thereby faci litating inter-departmental communication and data-sharing within the state. It will be a safe, fast, reliable and cost effective network that will connect all the 146 blocks of the state through a hybrid network consisting of WiMax, leased lines and other network technologies set up on a Public-Private Partnership mode operated on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model. The total project cost is Rs 91.27 crore, which consists of Rs 51.25 crore from the Government of India and Rs 40.02 crore from the state government.
The state expects to save 10-to-15 percent of its procurement expenditure by implementing e-procurement, apart from the fact that it will serve as a transparent and effective system. SWAN will aid the state with a firm network backbone and will be very helpful in increasing the base of the citizen-centric services and provide much needed last-mile connectivity to the state.
CHOiCE (Chhattisgarh Online information for Citizen Empowerment) uses biometrics and digital signatures. Why was this approach adopted?
CHOiCE provides a one-stop solution for anywhere, anytime, secured services for all citizen requirements. This project deals with online disbursement of government services to citizens and is a comprehensive solution that covers 137 services (G2C, G2B and G2G). It includes the issuance of certificates, ration card, land records, electronic payment, information on schemes, MIS, and others.
The project uses digital signatures and biometric security devices for online approvals. The CHOiCE project authenticates various users with biometric devices that use fingerprints to access CHOiCE. Initially, CHOiCE agents and government officials need to register online for biometric authentication through a biometric device. Fingerprints are stored in a central database with usernames, which are matched every time a user logs into the CHOiCE portal.
After a successful implementation in Raipur, the project will be rolled out in other districts of the state in the next financial year.
What about implementation issues with open source? Has it helped reduce the total cost of ownership?
The state government recognizes the need to democratize IT ownership, its control and use. It promotes the use of open source, which helps the state to compliment/supplement proprietary software by lowering the cost of IT ownership without compromising the quality of an application. The government will also facilitate research and development in the use of open source in the field of education, governance and even for general use to ensure that Chhattisgarh becomes a truly IT-enabled society. While it is too early to talk about the role of open source in reducing the total cost of ownership, the state tries to strike a balance between the use of open source and proprietary software.
The CHOiCE project, for instance, has been developed on open-source front-end tools with an open-source interface using a Tomcat-Apache Server, which enables clients to access the CHOiCE portal using a browser. The various devices used for user authentication are made platform-independent to facilitate their use on any operating system.
You have deployed a comprehensive GIS system that consists of 37 layers. Has it started delivering value?
The state of Chhattisgarh is among the first states in India to develop a comprehensive Geographical Information System (GIS) consisting of 37 layers that include hydrology, demographics, land maps, and others. Several applications are being developed to utilize the GIS in various departments. The forest department is using the system to demarcate forest boundaries, estimate forest density and find details of vegetation, firewood and timber. The revenue department uses it to digitize land maps and manage online land records. The election office employs the system to demarcate Gram Panchayat boundaries, Janpad Panchayat boundaries, Vidhan Sabha boundaries, get pictorial representation of census data and habitat, analyze poll trends, track polling party movements and ballot box movement.
The hydrology department is using GIS for watershed mapping, water-table mapping, demarcating catchments and submergence areas, ground-water simulations including site characterization, model development, post-processing, calibration and visualization. The Chhattisgarh s tate electricity board applies the GIS to install HV lines in remote areas and effectively plans the installation and operation of HV lines throughout the state. The mining department draws on the GIS to demarcate mining lease boundaries and identifying potential exploration and mining lease areas.
The state intends to provide GIS data to all government departments, agencies and NGOs to help them identify areas for improvement, thereby increasing the productivity and GDP of the state.
Agriculture contributes significantly to the state’s income. Do you have special e-governance initiatives to aid this sector?
Agriculture is going to be our next thrust sector for initiating IT projects. We have already framed e-governance strategies under the e-government road map for the agriculture department, which includes agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry. Though we are in the process of initiating IT projects that directly aid the agricultural sector, we have implemented some IT projects that indirectly serve as an effective aid in improving the agricultural scenario. The e-Gram Suraj project, through its use of Simputers, helps villages with instant data on agriculture, weather, mandi rates and various agricultural schemes operated by the state. The Bhuiyan project helps villagers access prompt computerized land records, which helps them to apply for various loans. The GIS maps aid the state to judiciously allocate resources, thereby improving agricultural productivity.
Education seems to be strong focus area for the state, which plans to use e-classrooms, besides training for all employees and MLAs in IT. What has been the initial response? Chhattisgarh has established an e-classroom, has conducted IT training programs for all classes of employees (Class-I to Class-IV employees) and has trained the entire cabinet on the use of IT. The Chhattisgarh Soochna Shakti Yojana has provided schools with desktops and touch screens, alongside basic training to students on operating computers. By and large, the response has been good. The most important aspect of pushing IT in a state like Chhattisgarh has been political commitment coupled with administrative support.
Convincing people of IT’s advantages is normally a tricky problem for most e-governance initiatives. How has CHiPS tackled this?
CHiPS has adopted a collaborative and institutional approach in initiating IT projects. Stakeholders have been extensively consulted before conceptualizing various IT projects. Meetings with industry associations, NGOs, corporates and others have been held in order to get a macroscopic view of IT implementations. Consultants have been hired to conduct studies to appraise the state on various infrastructure gaps, and gaps in process, human resources, technology and capacity prevailing in the state. CHiPS has been able to tackle this since it has a techno-managerial team that understands the languages of both IT and non-IT people.
The state’s SC/ST population is said to have been largely untouched by modern development. How has your IT policy helped such people?
The IT Policy has been instrumental in initiating state-wide mega IT projects and computer education programs, which reach the remotest parts of the state, benefiting the SC/ST population with instant reach to modern developments.
The citizen service centers (CSCs) that are being established in various villages will have a strong impact on the SC/ST population through citizen empowerment. The State Wide Area Network will play a key role in empowering the SC/ST population.
Autor/Author: Balaji Narasimhan
Quelle/Source: CIO India, 02.05.2006
