Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that to make e-governance initiative in Madhya Pradesh successful, information technology system should be free of administrative hassles and digital application needed to be effective.
Inaugurating the 10th national conference on ‘e-governance’ on Vidhan Sabha premises on Friday, the CM said there also exists a large non-digital world, which needed to be bridged. ‘‘The remote rural areas are cut off from the mainstream and to make e-governance a success, we have to make IT facilities reach the end-point,” said Chouhan.
About the stages of e-governance, Chouhan said earlier it was government to government (G2G), followed by government to business (G2B), but the ultimate is government to citizens (G2C). He said IT sector could not be ignored for the State’s economic growth and MP will prove it.
Enumerating the IT initiatives adopted by the State like cyber-treasury etc, Chouhan hoped that MP would write a new chapter in IT sector.
“The aim should be to make latest initiatives and benefits reach the common man,” he asserted. Presiding over the function, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension Suresh Pachauri said the conference was ‘historic’ due to the huge turnout of more than 700 participants.
Reminiscing about the initiatives taken by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Pachauri said it was his thought and initiative that has made India an IT power in the world, especially in communication.
Stating that e-governance helps common man get hassle-free services, Pachauri announced that Rs 117 crore and Rs 80 crore, respectively, had been sanctioned for SWAN and 900 common services centres to be set up in Madhya Pradesh. “I’ll put in a word with the ministry concerned for setting up of IIT & IIM in
Madhya Pradesh,” he said in response to the demand raised by the State Government. Averring that a state’s political health matters in its development, State IT Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said since MP has good environment, investors have shown interest in making investments.
“The functioning of the government should be visible round-the-clock and our initiatives in Information Technology will make it possible,” he asserted.
He added that though there has been controversy over SEZs in various states, MP has been successful in the venture. Union Department of Information Technology additional secretary R Chandrashekhar made a presentation on e-governance and e-Readiness Assessment report.
He informed that along with the e-governance scheme, the Centre has sanctioned 27 missions to provide services and facilities to the people with the cooperation of State Government and local bodies.
“People will begin to benefit from these by March 2008,” he said. The departments of central and state governments are being linked at block level through broadband service.
State Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahni said that IT and Internet have changed the world beyond imagination. He said that now there was need to use IT in the best interest of the masses. He hoped that the national conference would help a great deal in this regard.
MP gets Golden Icon award
Madhya Pradesh received the ‘Golden icon exemplary horizontal transfer of ICT-based best practices’ award for the integrated treasuries & accounts (Cyber Treasury). The award was received by a team from Directorate of Treasuries & Accounts, MP, including Jabalpur Commissioner, Anil Shrivastava. Fifteen Golden, Silver and Bronze Icon awards in various categories were presented.
ON SCREEN
- Centre nod to two IT schemes worth Rs 117 crore and Rs 80 crore
- 27 missions approved for facilities under e-governance plan by March 2008
- Centre, State departments to be linked via broadband up to block level
e-readiness rank
The third e-readiness assessment Report 2005, released by the Centre’s IT Depart-ment, has ranked Andhra Pradesh as the first, followed by Tamil Nadu, Karna-taka and Kerala in second, third and fourth positions, respectively. MP has been ranked 21st in the country.
IT firms rule world’s best list
Thirty-six Indian firms have made it to the 2007 Global Services 100 list of the world’s best IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. The USA, with 32 companies, is the second largest contributor to the list — however, over a dozen of these US firms operate largely through BPO offices in India.
Quelle/Source: Hindustan Times, 02.02.2007
