IRMA Equivalence document

Anirban Mukerji Government Affairs, Policy Advocacy, Program Management, Digital Transformation, ICT4D, Corporate Social Responsibility, Thought Leadership, and Intellectual Property.

 Anirban Mukerji                                                                                 

anirmukerji@gmail.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirmukerji | https://twitter.com/anirmukerji | 

Government Affairs, Policy Advocacy, Program Management, Digital Transformation, ICT4D, Corporate Social Responsibility, Thought Leadership, and Intellectual Property.

·       With a remarkable 30-year career spanning business, government, and information technology (IT), I have established myself as a seasoned leader and a visionary strategist. My expertise lies in navigating the complex landscape of public affairs, where I have consistently demonstrated my ability to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors, fostering meaningful partnerships and driving transformative change.

·       My track record of formulating impactful policies, such as the E-District program, Rural Digital Services program, and Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, highlights my ability to translate complex policy issues into actionable solutions. Moreover, my extensive experience fostering collaborations between the public and private sectors, showcased through successful partnerships with NASSCOM, Non-profits, and corporations and engagement with government bodies, underscores my understanding of building and maintaining relationships with diverse stakeholders.

·       As a recognized thought leader, I am frequently invited to share my expertise at prestigious conferences and institutions like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration.

·       My career is a testament to my unwavering commitment to leveraging technology for social progress and economic development. I am deeply committed to bridging the digital divide and empowering communities to achieve their full potential, mainly through initiatives like the groundbreaking Wireless Reach program.

Professional Experience

Qualcomm Inc. | Senior Manager – Government Affairs Oct 2012 – Nov 2023

Spearheaded multifaceted program management initiatives, fostering active collaboration with government agencies to highlight program impact and secure scalability support. Crafted compelling communication materials, orchestrated and presented at high-profile events to effectively convey and showcase these programs' accomplishments. Successfully managed a portfolio of over twenty Wireless Reach Programs for Qualcomm in India and Southeast Asia and L2PRO, an intellectual property training e-learning program.

§  Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach program empowers underserved communities globally by deploying advanced wireless technologies to enhance economic and social development. A snapshot of a few successful programs managed by me are

o   The Fisher Friend Mobile Application exemplifies technology's transformative power in empowering underserved communities. With over 100,000 marine fishers benefiting, the app ensures safety, boosts productivity and safeguards well-being through informed decision-making. Recognized by the media, Indian scientific institutions, and the Government of India, the program received the NASSCOM tech4good award in February 2022, affirming its significant impact on the fishing community.

o   Funded hi-tech startups working in the social impact domain. The portfolio, among others, includes Artelus, which utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy, and Blackfrog Technologies, which has developed a portable vaccine transportation refrigerator and mentored these companies with inputs on technology, business models, sales, fundraising, and marketing.

o   Aligned Qualcomm Wireless Reach programs with cutting-edge Qualcomm Technology Solutions, skillfully navigating resistance, and effectively convinced partners Nexleaf Analytics and Global Fishing Watch to assess and pilot the Qualcomm IoT AWARE platform.

§  Led L2PRO, a groundbreaking IP e-learning platform, driving education for startups, Small and Medium Enterprises, and innovators on Intellectual Property fundamentals. Forged strategic partnerships with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Government of India, and the National Law University Delhi. Achieved a milestone of 6000 registered learners, actively advancing the program through cutting-edge marketing strategies for impactful outreach

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Government of India | Senior Consultant 2010 – Sep 2012

In alignment with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's objective to advance e-Governance nationwide:

§  Executed the INR 1600 Crores (US$ 350 Million) e-District Mission Mode Project, engaged Consultancy agencies and System Integrators to successfully launch over 4000 citizen services across 713 districts in India.

§  Drafted the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, a groundbreaking legislation for revolutionizing service delivery in India. Secured the approval of the Indian Cabinet and introduced the bill in the Indian Parliament.

Self Employed ▪ e-Governance Consultant                 Oct 2009 – Oct 2010

Leveraged expertise to enhance government processes, digitalize services, and promote efficiency and transparency in governance. Worked on engagements with NASSCOM and the Government of Karnataka, bringing valuable insights and strategic guidance to optimize digital initiatives and improve citizen services.

IBM India ▪ National Manager e-Governance Solutions 2007 – Oct 2009

Established strong relationships with key State Government officials, including the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries, and Director General of Police of various State Governments. Contributed to large-scale projects such as the Treasury Modernization Project and National Rural Land Records Modernization Project. Achieved revenue generation exceeding $10 million across these initiatives

Government of Karnataka ▪ Program Manager (e-Governance) Oct 2005 – Sep 2007

Led the establishment of 800 village telecenters, delivering citizen-centric services and replicating the Bangalore One Citizen Service Project in five major Karnataka cities. Pioneered transformative initiatives in computerizing agricultural cooperative societies, state data center resource selection, and contributing to e-government programs, which were crucial in Karnataka, achieving the country's top e-readiness ranking in 2006.

Early Career History:

Hewlett-Packard ▪ Manager Social Innovation                                                          2003 – 2005

n-Logue Communications ▪ DGM (Projects)                                                                    2002

SIFY Technologies ▪ Sr. Manager (B2B Portals)                                                                                           2000 - 2002

Unilever ▪ Assistant Manager (Agri-Business Division)                                                                               1996 – 2000

Shriram Foods and Fertilizers ▪ Assistant Manager (Edible Oil Purchase)                                          1993 -1996

M.P. Oilfed.▪ Assistant Manager (Agri-Exports)                                                                                           1992 -1993

Education

Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management Anand                          1992

B.Sc. Hon's (Math's) St. Stephen's College, Delhi University                                                                           1989

NTSE Scholar (A National scholarship awarded by NCERT to only 250 students annually)

Profile of Shri R Chandrashekhar

http://egov.eletsonline.com/2013/05/rcr-chandrashekhar-the-crowned-prince-of-e-governance/ written by Shri Ashish Sanyal

Mr Rajeev Chawla being awarded Prime Minister's award

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajeevchawlaias

In 2006, Shri Rajeev Chawla was one of the two bureaucrats who were awarded the Prime Minister's award for excellence in Public Administration. The other recipient was Shri R.S. Pandey an IAS officer of Nagaland Cadre. 

Shri Rajeev Chawla was awarded for the Bhoomi Program

New Property deed format soon in Karnataka

New Property Deed format soon
The government has decided to introduce a standard format for documents on property transactions including sale.

A major step by the Revenue Department towards bringing in reforms in property transactions, the standard will cover mortgage deeds and gift deeds. Implemented, it will usher in uniformity in the way such documents are drafted.

The front page (also called index sheet) of the sale deed or any other document of property transactions will be standardised, stipulating a format. 

The front page will have a summary of the entire document with basic information about the property like its address, owner, encumbrance, if any, origin and the purchaser.

Electronic Delivery of Services Bill

Electronic Delivery of Services Bill or in the copy hosted in the Lok Sabha site

1)     The Electronic Delivery of Services Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 27th December 2011. It has since been referred to the Standing Committee for Information Technology. The reason for introduction of the Bill and its salient features are explained below.

Poor quality work in Governments

PDF document on Report of Committee for Computerization of Land Records

The above link opens the PDF document on the Report of Committee for Computerization of Land Records. While I have not read the report, it must be good as the convener of the Committee is Shri Rajeev Chawla and he will not sign off on shoddy work.

What is to be highlighted is that the manner the report has been uploaded on the website. The most optimum way would have been to make a PDF of the word document, however in this case the dealing official has photocopied the spiral bound report and uploaded it and one sees the spiral binding.

The disadvantage of this method is that the size of the scanned file increases substantially placing load on the servers and bandwidth required to down load the file. It is a mere example of both the lack of application of mind and lack of care in undertaking passing of shoddy work

Ms. Rita A. Teotia appointed Additional Secretary in Department of Information TechnologyInformation Technology

Ms. Rita A Teotia an 1981 batch officer of the Gujarat Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the   Department of Information Technology.

Her current posting is in Gujarat where she is the Principal Secretary for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. Previously between March 2007 to February 2009, she was the Principal Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Department of Government of Gujarat.

In her stint in Government of India also she worked as Joint Secretary in the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

In her long career in Government she has held diverse positions in both Central, State and District Administration

Presentation on e-District MMP

Introduction to the e-District MMP

View more PowerPoint from Anirban Mukerji

Shri J Satyanarayana IAS appointed as Secretary Department of Information Technology

           In a welcome extremely progressive move, Shri J Satyanarayana has been appointed as the Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of India. He succeeds , Shri R. Chandrasekhar another e-Governance heavyweight.

          Shri J Satyanarayana has been a pioneer in the field of implementation of e-Governance projects and as early as the late 1990s, he implemented Computerisation of the Registration Department of Andhra Pradesh, better known as the CARD Project. Later between 2000-2003, he was part of the SWAT e-Governance team of Shri Chandrababu Naidu, the then CM of Andhra Pradesh and he and his team implemented numerous pioneering and landmark e-Governance programs which among others included the e-Seva Project and the e-Procurement platform.

          In 2003 he founded the National Institute of Smart Governance and his magic and golden hand continued in this nascent institution. Between 2003-08, NISG was involved with virtually every important e-Governance initiative of the Government of India, including the computerisation of the Ministry of Company Affairs, one of the largest computerisation initiatives, Passport Seva, computerisation of the Passport Department.

           Mr. J Sathyanarayana is a great believer in the concept of Public Private Partnership for execution of e-Governance projects.

           Mr. J Satyanarayana is an IAS officer of the 1977 batch of Andhra Pradesh Cadre, in addition to conceptualising and implementing e-Governance projects, he has contributed extensively to the thought leadership in the e-Governance domain by writing many books, delivering training programs and contributing extensively in seminars and discussion forums on e-Governance

A REPORT ON THE VISIT OF CSCs AND E-DISTRICT AT GOALPARA, ASSAM 19th January 2012

1) A visit was made to the CSCs of Goalpara District, the E-District Facilitation Centre at Goalpara district office and the Circle office at Goalpara accompanied by representatives from the Assam SeMT team and the Srei Sahaj team.

2) The CSCs visited were located in Dudhnoi, Goalpara and Matia, Goalpara

a) The Dudhnoi CSC was located in the Dudhnoi town, located on the Guwahati – Goalpara National Highway which , the CSC was equipped with about 3 laptops. The Srei Sahaj team have made considerable efforts to seed a large number of Financial Services, however the VLE operating the CSC said that his main revenue sources were a) Browsing by customers, b) Photography and c) Railway ticketing. The VLE said that there was delay in processing of applications for e-District services, one of the reasons may be breakdown in the Assam State Wide Area Network link between the District office and the Circle office.

Electronic Delivery of Services Bill Introduced in the Lok Sabha on 27th December 2011

electronic_delivery_of_services_Bill_as_introduced_in_Lok_Sabha.pdf Download this file

Corrigenda_Electronic_Delivery_(26.12.11).doc Download this file

As extracted from the Lok Sabha debates

27.12.2011 Uncorrected / Not for Publication

 

ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF SERVICES BILL

 

1109 hours

THE MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND MINISTER

OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI

KAPIL SIBAL):  I beg to move for leave to introduce a Bill to provide for

electronic delivery of public services by the Government to all persons to ensure

transparency, efficiency, accountability, accessibility and reliability in delivery of

such services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 

 

MADAM SPEAKER: The question is: 

 “That leave be granted to introduce a Bill to provide for electronic

delivery of public services by the Government to all persons to

ensure transparency, efficiency, accountability, accessibility and

reliability in delivery of such services and for matters connected

therewith or incidental thereto.” 

 

The motion was adopted. 

SHRI KAPIL SIBAL: I introduce the Bill.

- - - - 

7224 

Karnataka to soon offer guaranteed land titles through the Urban Property Ownership Records Project

The project, while giving buyers all the information about a property through the Urban Property ownership records database, will also help protect government land

Bangalore: Karnataka will become the first state in the country to provide a state guarantee to urban property titles, albeit only implicitly, when Mysore district issues the first urban property cards later this month.

They will be issued under the Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR) project— which surveyed 275,000 properties in the Mysore urban area—that creates a record of the current owner of the property.

Titling is the formalizing of ownership of property, which allows the owner to commercial leverage it; at present, it does not exist in India. Further, unclear titles often lead to violent conflicts and endless litigation.

Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) Bill, 2011

http://mit.gov.in/content/draft-electronic-delivery-services-bill-2011

1)     Introduction

To speed up the process of delivery of public services to the citizens through electronic mode it is proposed to enact the Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) Act.

2)     Salient Features of the EDS Bill

a)   The Electronic Delivery of Services Act will mandate provisioning of all public services of all Central and State Government departments compulsorily through electronic means within 5 years from enactment.  

b)   Within 180 days of enactment of the EDS Act, all Departments of Central and State Government will need to identify the list of all public services to be delivered by it through electronic mode.

c)     The Departments will also need to provide details regarding the manner of delivery (how) of these electronic services and their service levels.

d)     It will be ensured that in addition to electronic mode of delivery of services, assisted access to electronic services will also be provided to the citizens.

e)     Departments will create a Grievance Redressal Mechanism for handling complaints regarding non availability of Electronic services or deficiency in delivery of electronic services.

f)    Electronic Service Delivery Commissions will be established at both the Central and State level to oversee the implementation and monitoring of the Act.

g)     The Act provides for penal provisions in case of contravention of the provisions of the EDS Act

3)     Current Status

a)     There has been extensive consultation process over the past 8 months on the EDS Bill, with all Stakeholders including all Central Government Departments, State Governments, Industry, Industry Association, Academia and Civil society.

b)     The EDS Bill was uploaded in the DIT website on 9th February 2011. All subsequent revisions have also been uploaded on the DIT website.

c)     The various suggestions and feedback of the stakeholders have been considered and accordingly the EDS bill has been revised to incorporate these suggestions.

d)     Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India has approved the draft Bill.

e)     It is proposed to introduce the EDS Bill during the winter session of the Parliament

4)     Benefits

The EDS Act Bill will bring about improvement in service delivery and Governance by ensuring legal mandate for delivery of services in electronic mode.

The EDS Bill is hosted at http://mit.gov.in/content/draft-electronic-delivery-services-bill-2011

Delivering services the Kalyan-Dombivli way – Isher Judge Ahluwalia

Below is an article published by Mrs. Isher Judge Ahluwalia on the e-Governance Project in the Kalyan  Dombivali Municipal Corporation.  Some of the factors which impressed her were

a)  Aesthetically designed Citizen Facilitation Centres

b) Ease of service delivery / reduction in time in delivery of services like issue of Birth Certificate, Payment of property taxes, reduction in time for property assesment

c) Integration of different service delivery modules / back end integration

d) Strong bureaucratic leadership

e) Financial sustainability of the Project

Delivering services the Kalyan-Dombivli way – Isher Judge Ahluwalia
For over a decade now, we have taken pride in the great performance of India’s IT sector in the global market for software development and also in the Indian corporate space. But the benefit IT can bring in delivering a variety of public services, what is often called e-governance, has been less in focus in India. The potential from this activity is enormous and it is only just beginning to be realised.
An outstanding example of what IT can do to deliver public services in Indian cities is provided by the e-governance project of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) in Thane district in Maharashtra. The project was conceived in 1999, started implementation in 2002, and is now being replicated across the 231 urban local bodies of Maharashtra. Its lessons are also being incorporated in the mission mode projects of the National e-Governance Action Plan which was launched in 2003.

Principal Secretary e-Governance Shri MN Vidyashankar's interview by egovreach.com

The original link is here egovreach.in

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.

Shri Ajay Sawhney President and CEO, NeGD presenting on the EDS Bill

Shri Ajay Sawhney, President and CEO NeGD was asked to deliver a presentation on the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 as part of the valedictory session on the International Seminar on e-Governance organised by the Industry body ASSOCHAM

See the full gallery on Posterous

Visit to e-Gram Kendra in Mehsana District

Visited  an e-Grama Kendra of Government of Guajarat in Mehsana District. e-Gram kendras are the Common Service Centres established in Gujarat though the model is different. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

The e-grama kendra was located in a village about 44 kms north of Gandhinagar in Mehsana District. There is a computer, a laser printer , a dot matrix printer and a web cam installed in the e-Gram kendra. The connectivity is provided through a Airtel VSAT connection.  The entire equipment at the e-gram centre is provided by the State Government. The e-gram centre  is run by a village entrepreneur who earns his income through providing services through the e-Gram centre. The Village entrepreneur is selected by the Village Panchayat to run the e-gram kendra.

Currently only land record copies and electricity bill payment services are available through the e-Gram kendra. The e-Gram kendra earns about 700 Rs. through electricity bill collections - about Rs. 5/- per bill which is generated bi monthly and about Rs. 700 through providing copies of land records. 

The entrepreneur earns additional income of Rs. 2000/- or so through providing other services like submitting job applications through the Gujarat Government site ojas.guj.nic.in.

Seetaram Yechuri quotes Electronic Delivery of Services Bill during lokpal debate in Parliament

Seetaram Yechuri - Now, I come to the question of Citizens’ Charter.   Again, we are, actually, talking of it as though this is something new that we have brought about.   There are Right to Services  Act that have been passed by five States in our country already.  They are Bihar, J & K, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.   They  are proposed in  Jharkhand, Kerala and Rajasthan.   I was surprised to see, Sir, -- the hon. Chairman of the relevant  Committee is not here at this moment –the other day, on the Internet,  the  draft Electronics Services Delivery Bill.  It was also written that citizens may send their responses to Abhishek80.gov.in by 4 th  of May, 2011.  It is in the public domain.  In public domain, there is a Bill of 2011 called  Electronic Services Delivery Bill.  The scope of the Bill, actually, says, that  every competent authority of the appropriate Government shall publish (i)all the public services of the Department/Agencies or Body  which have to be delivered through electronic mode – that is the mode that all of us, surely, should move to; this applies to all; then, (ii) the date by which these services shall be made available;  (iii) the manner of delivery of such services and their service levels and this is most important (iv) the grievance redressal mechanism available to  any person  aggrieved about the outcome  of any request made by him for such service...   This is there.   Your Bill is in public domain.  You are discussing it.  I do not know why the Government is not even referring to the fact that this mechanism has already been proposed by this very Government.   You already have a mechanism that you have proposed.  It is there in the public domain.  Either the left hand of the Government does not know what the right hand is doing, or, the Government  itself is not realizing that  what it is, actually, doing.  So, such a mechanism  has already been suggested  by it.   So, if it can be brought into the framework of the Lokpal saying that such a mechanism is there,  very good.  You can bring it. But the point is  that such a mechanism is, absolutely, necessary. 

Bloomberg article on use of free email accounts by Government of India

Personally , using gmail is more convenient than NIC email, 

The original article is here

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Don’t Hit Delete! That Hotmail From India’s Prime Minister May Be For Real

By Mehul Srivastava - Jul 18, 2011

After a triple bombing in Mumbai killed 21 people last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks -- from a Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Hotmail address.

Singh’s staff’s use of a free e-mail account is typical of most government workers, who log into Hotmail, Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Gmail and Yahoo! Inc.’s e-mail to conduct official business. They also list those addresses on agency websites and business cards.