Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
27 Dec 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Even as Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is optimistic that the deadlock between the State Government and Tecom over the Smart City Kochi project could be resolved shortly, it seems that the latter is awaiting a change of guard in the State.
Sources in the IT sector said that with hardly six months left for the Achuthanandanled LDF Government in power, Tecom might be expecting that the Congressled UDF Government would be back in power in the State after the next Assembly elections. Hence, they may be delaying the project as they expect a more lenient stand from the UDF, said sources. The Smart City project was initiated during the term of the previous Congressled UDF Government. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in 2005 when the Oommen Chandyled Government was in power. Achuthanandan, who was the then Opposition Leader, had opposed certain clauses in the MoU, especially the handing over of the Infopark to Tecom for the project. The Achuthanandanled Left Government, which later came to power, had scrapped the MoU signed by the Chandy Government and insisted on stringent norms, including 16 percent stake for the State Government and handing over of the 246 acres of land on lease basis.
This being the situation, it is quite natural that Tecom expects a more lenient stand from a UDF Government that may come to power. Hence, they are not taking any initiative to break the present deadlock over the demand for freehold on 12 percent of the land earmarked for the project, which comes to about 30 acres.
Though NRK businessman M K Yusuf Ali, who was recently deputed by the State Government to hold talks with Tecom, had held one round of negotiation with the Tecom to break the deadlock, Tecom was not ready for a climbdown on its demand for freehold.
Top sources in the State Government said that Yusuf Ali would be holding further talks with Tecom and a final picture would be available within a week or two.
The newly appointed IT Secretary K Suresh Kumar, the 'manfriday' of Achuthanandan, may also make an allout effort to resolve the deadlock so as to save the face of Achuthanandan. The Smart City Kochi project was a hot topic in the campaign for the last Assembly elections and it is likely to return in the coming Assembly election as well.
Monday 27 December 2010
Thursday 23 December 2010
A most controversial, but powerful Home Minister
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
Dec. 23
Thiurvnanthapuram : The decades long political innings of K.Karunakaran has not only
earned him the fame of being a shrewd politician, but also a
controversial and powerful Home Minister Kerala has ever witnessed.
If it was the Rajan case that opened his episode of controversies in
the 1970s, the ISRO espionage case during the 1990s came towards the
fag end of Karunakaran in power. Karunakaran was even forced to
resign as Chief Minister in 1977 after the missing of Kozhikode
Regional Engineering College student Rajan snowballed into a major
controversy. In the case of ISRO espionage case, the alleged
involvement of the then IG Raman Srivastava, a close confident of
Karunakaran, in the case had put the leader in a tight spot while he
was the Chief Minister.
Despite the controversies, Karunakaran had been widely accepted as a
powerful Home Minister as well. Though a Congress man, Karunakaran, as
the Home Minister never mixed up politics with routine policing, but
was were well updated of what was going on in the department, recalls
the senior police officials in the State. Even in case of any pressure
from Congress men to take action against any police official,
Karunakaran acted only after considering the merits. Indeed he was
aware of the merits and demerits of each police personnel. Moreover,
he never allowed his party men to boss the police.
The expertise of Karunakaran in policing was evident in 1982 while he
was serving as the Chief Minister and Vayalar Ravi holding the Home
portfolio. While a communal violence broke out in the state,
Karunakaran was said to have played a key role in bringing the
situation under control. In case of crisis situation, Karunakaran
ensured his direct intervention into the arrangements of the police.
The tense situation that erupted following the Babri Masjid is an
instance. Though recovering after the car accident, Karunakaran
personally reviewed the security arrangements.
He used to take police officers into confidence. There were certain
IPS officer who were identified to as close confidants of Karunakaran.
Jayaram Padikkal, T.V.Madhusoodanan, Raman Srivastava and M.G.A.Ramen
are among them.
Karunakaran earned the wrath of a section in the police for giving out
of the turn promotions. There had been several instances of junior
officers being given promotions over looking the seniority of others.
For this reason there used to be a certain group of cops who pretend
themselves as coterie of Karunakaran while he served as the Home
Minister. This had invited widespread resentment in the police force.
The appointment of Jayaram Padikkal as DGP over looking the seniority
of T.V. Madhusoodanan, while Karunakaran was holding the Home
portfolio, had also sparked off a controversy.
"I am a Congress man and will die as a Congress man. If you do
Congress some favour, I will be happy. But you should always remember
that you are a police officer," Karunakaran had once told, recalls a
police officer.
Ends
The New Indian Express
Dec. 23
Thiurvnanthapuram : The decades long political innings of K.Karunakaran has not only
earned him the fame of being a shrewd politician, but also a
controversial and powerful Home Minister Kerala has ever witnessed.
If it was the Rajan case that opened his episode of controversies in
the 1970s, the ISRO espionage case during the 1990s came towards the
fag end of Karunakaran in power. Karunakaran was even forced to
resign as Chief Minister in 1977 after the missing of Kozhikode
Regional Engineering College student Rajan snowballed into a major
controversy. In the case of ISRO espionage case, the alleged
involvement of the then IG Raman Srivastava, a close confident of
Karunakaran, in the case had put the leader in a tight spot while he
was the Chief Minister.
Despite the controversies, Karunakaran had been widely accepted as a
powerful Home Minister as well. Though a Congress man, Karunakaran, as
the Home Minister never mixed up politics with routine policing, but
was were well updated of what was going on in the department, recalls
the senior police officials in the State. Even in case of any pressure
from Congress men to take action against any police official,
Karunakaran acted only after considering the merits. Indeed he was
aware of the merits and demerits of each police personnel. Moreover,
he never allowed his party men to boss the police.
The expertise of Karunakaran in policing was evident in 1982 while he
was serving as the Chief Minister and Vayalar Ravi holding the Home
portfolio. While a communal violence broke out in the state,
Karunakaran was said to have played a key role in bringing the
situation under control. In case of crisis situation, Karunakaran
ensured his direct intervention into the arrangements of the police.
The tense situation that erupted following the Babri Masjid is an
instance. Though recovering after the car accident, Karunakaran
personally reviewed the security arrangements.
He used to take police officers into confidence. There were certain
IPS officer who were identified to as close confidants of Karunakaran.
Jayaram Padikkal, T.V.Madhusoodanan, Raman Srivastava and M.G.A.Ramen
are among them.
Karunakaran earned the wrath of a section in the police for giving out
of the turn promotions. There had been several instances of junior
officers being given promotions over looking the seniority of others.
For this reason there used to be a certain group of cops who pretend
themselves as coterie of Karunakaran while he served as the Home
Minister. This had invited widespread resentment in the police force.
The appointment of Jayaram Padikkal as DGP over looking the seniority
of T.V. Madhusoodanan, while Karunakaran was holding the Home
portfolio, had also sparked off a controversy.
"I am a Congress man and will die as a Congress man. If you do
Congress some favour, I will be happy. But you should always remember
that you are a police officer," Karunakaran had once told, recalls a
police officer.
Ends
Friday 17 December 2010
SBT to launch enrolment process soon
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
17 Dec 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The hopes of the State IT sector to reap the benefits of the enrolment to Unique Identification (UID) project will receive a jolt, as the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) is gearing up to launch the enrolment process soon.
SBT, which has recently inked an agreement with the UID Authority of India, will soon launch the enrolment process for the UID project, whereas the plans of the State IT Department to carry out the enrolment through the Akshaya Centres, IT@School and Keltron is still held up owing to the Free and Open Sources Software (FOSS) policy of the the Left Government in the State.
Though the State IT Department had entered into an agreement with the UID Authority much in advance, it had been caught up in a controversy over the use of propriety software based enrolment application. The State had rejected a Windowsbased enrolment application provided by the UID Authority citing that it was against the Free and Open Sources Software (FOSS) policy of the Left Government in the State. A request of the State IT Department to the UID Authority to provide an enrolment application compatible with FOSS is yet to get any reply.
SBT will, however, be able to launch the project without any hindrance as the FOSS is not applicable to them.
SBT Chief Manager, Financial Inclusion, V Anil Kumar, said that request for quotation would be floated soon to invite bids from the agencies willing to take up the enrolment work. The UID Authority had empanelled around 200 institutions across the country as enrolment agencies.
"Initially we plan to restrict the enrolment process within Kerala. But it may be expanded beyond the State at a later stage. While the enrolment agency will carry out the enrolment process, the bank will give adequate publicity," Anil Kumar told Express.
The State IT Department was hoping to earn a considerable revenue, especially for the Akshaya Centres, from the UID enrolment process as the UID Authority will pay around Rs 50 per person enrolled. The move of SBT to launch the enrolment will shatter these hopes.
The UID project, popularly known as 'Aadhaar,' aims at providing a unique identification number to each citizen of the country. Besides the basic demographic details, the biometric identification marks of fingers and iris of each individual, are also being collected for the UID project.
The New Indian Express
17 Dec 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The hopes of the State IT sector to reap the benefits of the enrolment to Unique Identification (UID) project will receive a jolt, as the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) is gearing up to launch the enrolment process soon.
SBT, which has recently inked an agreement with the UID Authority of India, will soon launch the enrolment process for the UID project, whereas the plans of the State IT Department to carry out the enrolment through the Akshaya Centres, IT@School and Keltron is still held up owing to the Free and Open Sources Software (FOSS) policy of the the Left Government in the State.
Though the State IT Department had entered into an agreement with the UID Authority much in advance, it had been caught up in a controversy over the use of propriety software based enrolment application. The State had rejected a Windowsbased enrolment application provided by the UID Authority citing that it was against the Free and Open Sources Software (FOSS) policy of the Left Government in the State. A request of the State IT Department to the UID Authority to provide an enrolment application compatible with FOSS is yet to get any reply.
SBT will, however, be able to launch the project without any hindrance as the FOSS is not applicable to them.
SBT Chief Manager, Financial Inclusion, V Anil Kumar, said that request for quotation would be floated soon to invite bids from the agencies willing to take up the enrolment work. The UID Authority had empanelled around 200 institutions across the country as enrolment agencies.
"Initially we plan to restrict the enrolment process within Kerala. But it may be expanded beyond the State at a later stage. While the enrolment agency will carry out the enrolment process, the bank will give adequate publicity," Anil Kumar told Express.
The State IT Department was hoping to earn a considerable revenue, especially for the Akshaya Centres, from the UID enrolment process as the UID Authority will pay around Rs 50 per person enrolled. The move of SBT to launch the enrolment will shatter these hopes.
The UID project, popularly known as 'Aadhaar,' aims at providing a unique identification number to each citizen of the country. Besides the basic demographic details, the biometric identification marks of fingers and iris of each individual, are also being collected for the UID project.
Tuesday 14 December 2010
IT Department to go paperless soon
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
14 Dec 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Government is making rapid strides in e-governance with the State Information Technology Department becoming paperless.
All files pertaining to the IT Department at the Secretariat will be transferred electronically once the paperless system is launched, which is in the offing.
IT Secretary Ajaykumar said that the paperless system was in the final stages of implementation and it would be launched within a few days.
“To begin with, we are implementing it in the IT Department. The Civil Supplies Department will become paperless in another couple of months and it will be extended to other Departments in a phased manner,” he said.
Titled Digital Document Filing System, the system is being implemented by Keltron with the support of a private IT firm. As a prelude to the implementation of paperless office, all the existing files of the IT Department will be in electronic form.
Old files to be digitised
The old files are being digitised under the ongoing project for digitisation of all files and records of various departments in the Secretariat.
The Secretariat file digitisation project is being integrated with the paperless office system so that previous files will be available for reference at the click of a mouse.
Already around four lakh files of various departments are digitised and the digitisation project has been integrated with the paperless office system.
The entire files of IT Department will be passed on to various levels, including Ministers, electronically.
Certain files of the IT Department need to be circulated to other departments also. Such file movements would also become paperless.
In order to ensure security, the responsibility of the officials at each level has been fixed. Separate Government Orders were also issued in this regard.
Storage capacity
One of the biggest challenges involved in the project is the storage capacity. Normally, every files of various departments in the Secretariat are voluminous as policy matters are involved and several rounds of circulation among various officials are involved. In order to sort out the issue, a Storage Area Network , a high-speed special-purpose network that interconnects various kinds of data storage devices, may be installed in future.
The New Indian Express
14 Dec 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Government is making rapid strides in e-governance with the State Information Technology Department becoming paperless.
All files pertaining to the IT Department at the Secretariat will be transferred electronically once the paperless system is launched, which is in the offing.
IT Secretary Ajaykumar said that the paperless system was in the final stages of implementation and it would be launched within a few days.
“To begin with, we are implementing it in the IT Department. The Civil Supplies Department will become paperless in another couple of months and it will be extended to other Departments in a phased manner,” he said.
Titled Digital Document Filing System, the system is being implemented by Keltron with the support of a private IT firm. As a prelude to the implementation of paperless office, all the existing files of the IT Department will be in electronic form.
Old files to be digitised
The old files are being digitised under the ongoing project for digitisation of all files and records of various departments in the Secretariat.
The Secretariat file digitisation project is being integrated with the paperless office system so that previous files will be available for reference at the click of a mouse.
Already around four lakh files of various departments are digitised and the digitisation project has been integrated with the paperless office system.
The entire files of IT Department will be passed on to various levels, including Ministers, electronically.
Certain files of the IT Department need to be circulated to other departments also. Such file movements would also become paperless.
In order to ensure security, the responsibility of the officials at each level has been fixed. Separate Government Orders were also issued in this regard.
Storage capacity
One of the biggest challenges involved in the project is the storage capacity. Normally, every files of various departments in the Secretariat are voluminous as policy matters are involved and several rounds of circulation among various officials are involved. In order to sort out the issue, a Storage Area Network , a high-speed special-purpose network that interconnects various kinds of data storage devices, may be installed in future.
Saturday 11 December 2010
Friday 10 December 2010
KSRTC accident: ‘Cops shielding guilty’
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
10 Dec 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s nearly two decades since a thirty-year-old woman was run over by a speeding KSRTC bus at Palayam, leaving behind her husband and two children. The incident has moved everyone - even those with hearts of stone - except the Thiruvananthapuram City Police.
A Satheedevi, an employee with the Accountant General’s office, was killed on August 8, 1991 when a KSRTC bus hit the scooter on which she was pillion riding behind her husband P K Shankaran Kutty on the flyover between Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and MLA quarters. Satheedevi was, incidentally, the first road accident victim on the flyover.
Owing to a ‘mysterious’ delay on the part of the City Police in furnishing certain vital documents to the Advocate General’s office, the case has been pending for nearly eight years. The political clout of the accused is alleged to be the reason for the negligence by the police.
The Thiruvananthapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate court had convicted the KSRTC bus driver, Mathai, to 15 months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 500 in February 1995. However, Mathai filed an appeal against the verdict at the District Sessions Court and he was acquitted in May 2002. The victim’s husband alleges that the public prosecutor had abstained from the court during the trial so as to favour the accused, who was an active member of the pro-Kerala Congress (B) Drivers’ Union.
A prosecution appeal was filed at the High Court against the Sessions Court verdict in January 2003. But the High Court had marked the petition defective owing to the absence of the lower court verdicts. Since then, the Advocate General’s office had sent four reminders to the Circle Inspector of the Thiruvananthapuram city police as well as City Police Commissioner seeking copy of the lower court judgments in the case. But, so far, there has been no response from either the Circle Inspector or the City Police Commissioner.
A recent reply given by the Advocate General’s Office under the Right to Information Act to Shankaran Kutty has exposed the serious lapse on the part of the city police. The Advocate General’s office also maintained that the case was lying idle as the copy of the lower court judgments had not yet been received from the police authorities.
According to the reply from the Advocate General’s office, communications seeking the copy of the lower court orders were sent to the Circle Inspector of the City Traffic Police on March 17, 2003 and June 2, 2003 as well to the City Police Commissioner on August 6, 2003 and April 24, 2004. However, there has been no response so far.
“This exposes the double stand of the police. While the police initiate awareness programmes against rash and negligent driving on one side, the same police are deliberately delaying legal action against a person accused of rash driving. Moreover, justice is being denied to the victims of rash driving,” laments Shankaran Kutty, who was a State Government employee.
The New Indian Express
10 Dec 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s nearly two decades since a thirty-year-old woman was run over by a speeding KSRTC bus at Palayam, leaving behind her husband and two children. The incident has moved everyone - even those with hearts of stone - except the Thiruvananthapuram City Police.
A Satheedevi, an employee with the Accountant General’s office, was killed on August 8, 1991 when a KSRTC bus hit the scooter on which she was pillion riding behind her husband P K Shankaran Kutty on the flyover between Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and MLA quarters. Satheedevi was, incidentally, the first road accident victim on the flyover.
Owing to a ‘mysterious’ delay on the part of the City Police in furnishing certain vital documents to the Advocate General’s office, the case has been pending for nearly eight years. The political clout of the accused is alleged to be the reason for the negligence by the police.
The Thiruvananthapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate court had convicted the KSRTC bus driver, Mathai, to 15 months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 500 in February 1995. However, Mathai filed an appeal against the verdict at the District Sessions Court and he was acquitted in May 2002. The victim’s husband alleges that the public prosecutor had abstained from the court during the trial so as to favour the accused, who was an active member of the pro-Kerala Congress (B) Drivers’ Union.
A prosecution appeal was filed at the High Court against the Sessions Court verdict in January 2003. But the High Court had marked the petition defective owing to the absence of the lower court verdicts. Since then, the Advocate General’s office had sent four reminders to the Circle Inspector of the Thiruvananthapuram city police as well as City Police Commissioner seeking copy of the lower court judgments in the case. But, so far, there has been no response from either the Circle Inspector or the City Police Commissioner.
A recent reply given by the Advocate General’s Office under the Right to Information Act to Shankaran Kutty has exposed the serious lapse on the part of the city police. The Advocate General’s office also maintained that the case was lying idle as the copy of the lower court judgments had not yet been received from the police authorities.
According to the reply from the Advocate General’s office, communications seeking the copy of the lower court orders were sent to the Circle Inspector of the City Traffic Police on March 17, 2003 and June 2, 2003 as well to the City Police Commissioner on August 6, 2003 and April 24, 2004. However, there has been no response so far.
“This exposes the double stand of the police. While the police initiate awareness programmes against rash and negligent driving on one side, the same police are deliberately delaying legal action against a person accused of rash driving. Moreover, justice is being denied to the victims of rash driving,” laments Shankaran Kutty, who was a State Government employee.
Monday 6 December 2010
P J Thomas failed to inform the then CM
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
06 Dec 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Knowingly or unknowingly, the Congress-led UPA Government is justifying an IAS officer who was earlier held responsible by the Congress-led Government in Kerala in 1995 with regard to palmolein import.
Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, who was a former secretary of Food and Civil Supplies Department in Kerala, was held responsible by the Congressled UDF Government in Kerala in 1995 for sending a proposal to the Centre for importing palmolein to the state from a Singapore-based company without the knowledge of the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran.
The Congressled UPA Government at the Centre is now giving a clean chit to the same Thomas even while the matter is still pending before the court.
The state government had submitted an action-taken report (ATR) to the Public Undertakings Committee of the State Legislative Assembly in January 1995 in response to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report in 1993 citing irregularities in the palmolein import.
The state government had mentioned in the ATR that though the Singapore-based firm Power and Energy Private Limited had sent a letter to the Chief Minister in November 1991 offering to import palmolein under the Rupee Clearance Scheme, thethen Chief Minister K Karunakaran had not even seen the letter before thethen Food and Civil Supplies Secretary P J Thomas forwarded a proposal to the Centre for importing palmolein from the Singapore-based firm.
Excerpts from the ATR
"This letter (Letter from the Singapore firm), though addressed to the Chief Minister (K Karunakaran was the then Chief Minister), was not even put up to him, nor seen by him at this stage but was processed by the Food and Civil Supplies Department.
Based on such processing, the Food and Civil Supplies Department decided to send a formal proposal to Government of India. This proposal dated November 18, 1991 was accepted by the Government of India. It is this acceptance which formed the basis of the entire transaction," says the ATR prepared by the state Food and Civil Supplies Department.
As reported by Express the other day, P J Thomas who was the then Food and Civil Supplies Secretary in the state had sent the proposal to the Centre.
It had also come to light that P J Thomas had written the proposal to the Centre prior to the state Cabinet granting sanction for the purchase of palmolein on November 27, 1991.
The New Indian Express
06 Dec 2010
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Knowingly or unknowingly, the Congress-led UPA Government is justifying an IAS officer who was earlier held responsible by the Congress-led Government in Kerala in 1995 with regard to palmolein import.
Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, who was a former secretary of Food and Civil Supplies Department in Kerala, was held responsible by the Congressled UDF Government in Kerala in 1995 for sending a proposal to the Centre for importing palmolein to the state from a Singapore-based company without the knowledge of the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran.
The Congressled UPA Government at the Centre is now giving a clean chit to the same Thomas even while the matter is still pending before the court.
The state government had submitted an action-taken report (ATR) to the Public Undertakings Committee of the State Legislative Assembly in January 1995 in response to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report in 1993 citing irregularities in the palmolein import.
The state government had mentioned in the ATR that though the Singapore-based firm Power and Energy Private Limited had sent a letter to the Chief Minister in November 1991 offering to import palmolein under the Rupee Clearance Scheme, thethen Chief Minister K Karunakaran had not even seen the letter before thethen Food and Civil Supplies Secretary P J Thomas forwarded a proposal to the Centre for importing palmolein from the Singapore-based firm.
Excerpts from the ATR
"This letter (Letter from the Singapore firm), though addressed to the Chief Minister (K Karunakaran was the then Chief Minister), was not even put up to him, nor seen by him at this stage but was processed by the Food and Civil Supplies Department.
Based on such processing, the Food and Civil Supplies Department decided to send a formal proposal to Government of India. This proposal dated November 18, 1991 was accepted by the Government of India. It is this acceptance which formed the basis of the entire transaction," says the ATR prepared by the state Food and Civil Supplies Department.
As reported by Express the other day, P J Thomas who was the then Food and Civil Supplies Secretary in the state had sent the proposal to the Centre.
It had also come to light that P J Thomas had written the proposal to the Centre prior to the state Cabinet granting sanction for the purchase of palmolein on November 27, 1991.
Friday 3 December 2010
e-district project to roll-out on December 17
Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
03-Dec-10
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Aimed at delivering a host of government services at the door steps of the citizens, the State Government is all set to launch the e-district project this month.
It has been decided to formally the launch the project on December 17. In the initial phase, the project would be pioleted in Kannur and Palakkad districts, sources in the State IT Department has said.
The Kerala State IT Mission is implementing the project with the supports of District Administrataion, Akshaya Centres, National Informatics Centre and Wipro. After evaluataing the success of the project in Palakkad and Kannur districts it would be extended to other districts in a phased manner.
The e-district project envisages delivery of a host of services of various government departments through the citizen service centres, especially the 2000 odd Akshaya centres spread across the state, and the Friends Janasevakendra. The e-district project also envisage delivery of the services through district portals.
In the initial stage about 50 services would be delivered through the e-district project. Services of Revenue, Agriculture, Police, Election, Transport and Local Self Government departments are included in the project so far and more departments would join it in the due course. Passport related services and filing of Right to Information applications could also be done through e-district project.
The services to be offered through e-district project include issuing various certificates under the Revenue department, like residence, nativity and income certificates, soil testing, crop insurance, ration card related services, filing police complaints, enrolling into the electoral list, booking date for leaners licence or vehicle test and registrataion of birth and death certificates. Applications under Right to Information could also be given through e-district project.
The implementation of the e-district project is also expected to reduce the delay involved in government services these days as the entire process of file tranfer would become automated. The application for the project has been developed by NIC and Wipro is the consultant, said sources.
The project would be a major milestone in the efforts of the State Government in bringing the benefits of IT Enables Services to the grass root levels.
The New Indian Express
03-Dec-10
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Aimed at delivering a host of government services at the door steps of the citizens, the State Government is all set to launch the e-district project this month.
It has been decided to formally the launch the project on December 17. In the initial phase, the project would be pioleted in Kannur and Palakkad districts, sources in the State IT Department has said.
The Kerala State IT Mission is implementing the project with the supports of District Administrataion, Akshaya Centres, National Informatics Centre and Wipro. After evaluataing the success of the project in Palakkad and Kannur districts it would be extended to other districts in a phased manner.
The e-district project envisages delivery of a host of services of various government departments through the citizen service centres, especially the 2000 odd Akshaya centres spread across the state, and the Friends Janasevakendra. The e-district project also envisage delivery of the services through district portals.
In the initial stage about 50 services would be delivered through the e-district project. Services of Revenue, Agriculture, Police, Election, Transport and Local Self Government departments are included in the project so far and more departments would join it in the due course. Passport related services and filing of Right to Information applications could also be done through e-district project.
The services to be offered through e-district project include issuing various certificates under the Revenue department, like residence, nativity and income certificates, soil testing, crop insurance, ration card related services, filing police complaints, enrolling into the electoral list, booking date for leaners licence or vehicle test and registrataion of birth and death certificates. Applications under Right to Information could also be given through e-district project.
The implementation of the e-district project is also expected to reduce the delay involved in government services these days as the entire process of file tranfer would become automated. The application for the project has been developed by NIC and Wipro is the consultant, said sources.
The project would be a major milestone in the efforts of the State Government in bringing the benefits of IT Enables Services to the grass root levels.
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