Karnataka has been leading the way in
terms of IT software and hardware exports. It has taken a huge leap in
e-governance initiatives also and M. N.
Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government
of Karnataka elaborates on the efforts that the state has put in.
Q: Karnataka is one among
the few states which has shown proper reciprocation to e-governance call. How
would you rate the state’s response to e-governance?
Answer
Karnataka ranked as the “Leader in
e-Readiness in the country” by the Department of Information Technology,
Government of India. We have several successful e-governance projects which
have potential to be replicated in other states. Namely:
Bhoomi : Bhoomi (meaning land) is the
project of on-line delivery and management of land records in Karnataka. It
provides transparency in land records management with better citizen services
and takes discretion away from civil servants at operational levels.
BHOOMI has been operationalised throughout
the state. Under BHOOMI 20 million records of land ownership of 6.7 million
farmers are computerized in the state.
BHOOMI has reduced the discretion of public
officials by introducing provisions for recording a mutation request online.
Farmers can now access the database and are empowered to follow up. Now,
mutation requests are being handled strictly on a first-come-first-served basis
eliminating preferential treatment and discretionary powers of the civil
servants.
The new system has brought about a sea
change in the way land records are maintained and administered in the state.
The system has not only simplified the process of record keeping but has also
provided many collateral benefits. This governance model has proven to be
financially self-sustainable. It has become a trend setter for e-Governance
projects in the state as well as other parts of the country. Bhoomi Project has
won many national and international awards.
Nemmadi Rural Telecentre Project: The objective
of the Nemmadi project is to empower rural citizens, provide direct access of
government services to the citizens and bring government services to the
doorstep of the citizen, thereby bridging the digital divide.
Prior to the establishment of Tele Centers,
the citizens had to travel all the way to Taluka and District offices to obtain
various G2C services, like copies of Land records, Income certificates, Caste
Certificates, Birth and Death certificates, Social security scheme
certificates, etc. The archaic manual system was unable to meet citizen
expectations. A citizen had to put up with time delays, lack of transparency
and misuse of discretionary powers by the officials. More importantly, the
integrity of created data was in doubt. With the establishment of Nemmadi Tele
centres, service delivery has become efficient, transparent and accountable.
This project has won many awards such as
Oscar of Asia’s public sector IT, 2007 - by Govt. Technology award in Phuket
(Thailand), Microsoft e-Governance award, 2007 - by Microsoft , National award for
e-Governance, 2008 -by Dept. of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
(India).
e-Procurement Project: The State Government
is making all its procurements through the electronic mode, transparently under
this project. Even though it started in six establishments on a pilot basis,
this scheme, during the last two and half years, has been extended to 86
departments by the end of November, 2010. Procurement to the tune of Rs.80,000
crores has made through this platform. As the platform has encouraged a highly
competitive spirit among the bidders, number of participants increased,
resulting in savings of more than 10%, resulting in savings to the State
exchequer to the tune of Rs. 4,700 crores.
Being a web based solution, anybody can participate without any
hindrance/entry barriers. Consequently, more than 10,000 users are registered
on the platform. The project bagged Futuregov Award 2010 for Best Practices in
Asia’s Public Sector during this year, and many laurels in the preceding years.
Karnataka State Wide Area Network (KSWAN)
Project: The KSWAN Project, implemented at a cost of Rs, 178 crores, was
launched on 07.12.2009. This project has established a wide multi-layer
network. It has provided data, voice and video services. 2,400 Government
Offices, covering 56 Departments are connected and I.P. Phones provided to more
than 2,300 Offices. 126 Government Business Centers have been established in
Taluk Headquarters and its services can be availed by all the Offices in the
Taluk Headquarters.
Human Resources Management System (HRMS):
The scheme, which started with assistance from the World Bank, has achieved
many milestones in the last two and half years. 19,200 Drawing and Disbursing
Officers are able to disburse salaries to Government Officials working under
their control through electronic media. Besides, service registers of all the
employees have also been updated. Because of this Government Employees retiring
will be able to receive their retirement benefits on the day of retirement, in
the days to come. This Scheme has been extended to several Corporations and
Boards. Many state Governments are in consultation with the State Government
for implementing the scheme in their State.
Bangalore-One Centers: The project was
started with a plan of providing multiple G2C & B2C services under a single
roof. At present 72 BangaloreOne Integrated Citizen Service Centers are
operational across Bangalore City. The Center provides 40+ services like payment
of utility bills, Bus /Train/ Flight ticket booking, Collection of fines,
collection of examination related fees of Pre-University course and Bangalore
University Graduation & Post Graduation courses etc.
This project has bagged several awards
which include CSI NIHILENT e-Governance AWARD 2005-06 for being best in service
orientation, Finalist in Microsoft e-Governance Award 2007, National Webratna
Silver Icon Award for excellence for the year 2009 and Finalist in NASSCOM
2010-11.
Karnataka-One Centers: Visualized on the
Bangalore One model KarnatakaOne centres are established across tier II cities
of the state which include Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Bellary, Mysore, Mangalore,
Davanagere, Gulbarga, Shimoga and Tumkur.
Aadhaar (UID) Project: Intended to give
Unique Identity Numbers to all the 6 crores residents of the state, ‘AADHAAR’
Project is rolled out in the state and the enrollment is in full swing. With
the implementation of this scheme, it is expected that public services will
reach the targeted population more effectively.
Q Your comment on the
challenges faced by the state in terms of e-governance implementation.
One of the major challenges was making
citizens to feel good about the utilities of e-Governance initiatives and also
changing the mindset of employees of the state.
Changing the mindset of employees of the
state: About a decade ago, there was a sort of confusion among the Government
employees about the adoption of computer services in Government sector.
The department has conducted many training
programmes, workshops, seminars on the benefits of adopting e-governance in
Government Departments. After realizing the benefits of computerization, now
they are falling in line and actively co-operating with the programmes
initiated by the department.
Making citizens to feel good about the
utilities of the e-Governance initiatives: Many convincing and brain storming
sessions were held across the state to make the citizens to understand the
utility of the e-Governance programmes. The success of Bhoomi, Nemmadi,
BangaloreOne, and e-Procurement has helped citizens feel contented about the
changed systems.
Q Which are the projects in
the coming future that Karnataka is looking forward to in terms of e-governance?
The following projects are in the pipeline.
Right to Information Project:- This Project
is being planned with an intention of furnishing information to the public who apply for the same under the RTI Act, through
Call Centre / Bangalore-One / Karnataka-One / State Web Portal.
M.I.S System for the Planning Department:-
Information about the various plan
schemes of different departments implemented in districts and talukas will be collected and collated within certain prescribed timelines
through the project.
State Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG):- The
Gateway has been proposed to provide anywhere / everywhere services to the
citizens. Large number of services and forms will be made available through the
internet to the citizens, thereby avoiding frequent trips to the offices.
Stamps and Registration Services:- Marriage
Certificates, Encumbrance Certificates and Sale Deeds will be made available to
the public through Bangalore-One Centers, electronically.
Automation of Labour Department:- Labour
Department is implementing major Acts / enactments. The services of the
Department will be automated and electronically made available to the public.
Karnataka Residents Data Hub:- The State
Government is implementing citizen friendly schemes like Nemmadi, Bhoomi,
Bangalore-One, etc. The intention of this initiative is to have consolidated
information of all the citizens, availing the benefits with linkages
established between the different data bases. This will help the Government in
evaluating not only the progress of the project but also extending the benefits
to the targeted beneficiary.
Q Which are the main focus
areas of the e-governance department in the state and how far have you been
able to implement?
The main focus of the department is aimed
at to bring transparency, efficiency, and time savings to citizen’s grievances
through design & implementation of citizen friendly projects.
Transparency in procurement has been
achieved by the implementation of e-Procurement project. Procurement to the
tune of 80,000 crores has happened for the last 3 years with minimal complaints
from the public.
Bhoomi, Nemmadi and BangaloreOne have shown
to the public how efficiently the Government services are made available to
public. By the implementation of these programmes the citizens are able to get
services across the counters with lesser visits to government offices and with
minimal official intervention.
Q What is the kind of
budget allocation for the e-governance department?
Karnataka Government is always very liberal
in providing adequate budget to the department. Financial constraint is not an
issue as far as implementation of e-Governance initiatives is concerned.
Q Your views on the
awareness measures taken up towards e-governance across the state.
There is a lot to be done in the field of
awareness on the e-Governance programmes. The department is striving to explore
the possibilities of extending all out services to every citizen of the state
which in a way will definitely propagate the advantage of the electronic
governance.
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