Chhatisgarh e-governance on A.P. model

By Our Principal Correspondent

RAIPUR, OCT. 7. The Chhatisgarh Government's concepts on promotion of e-governance appears highly influenced by the policies being implemented by the Andhra Pradesh Government. Even the ambitious draft Vision Document-2010, prepared by the Chhatisgarh Government is more or less based on that pattern.

The concept of e-seva, which has now been fully implemented in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad for providing single-window computerized services to the citizens, will be broadly adopted by the Chhatisgarh Government, if the draft Vision Document 2010 is adopted. The Chhatisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS) will be the nodal agency for promotion of Information Technology in the State and will also oversee the IT initiatives, and work with government departments, local bodies and other institutions to enable the adoption of IT related initiatives. It will also advise the government regarding formulation of IT policy for the State.

To begin with, The State Government has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Information Technology regarding setting up of an IT Park in Bhilai, close to the Capital, which would virtually open the gateway to Information technology systems in the State. This is expected to give a boost to the IT awareness in the State, which would enhance the peoples participation in IT related services.

The e-seva service in Andhra Pradesh was started with a view to create a knowledge society by using IT in all aspects of development and governance. For example, the Registration and Stamps Department has computerized the system of registering and preserving documents of immovable property transactions and providing several related services across 214 locations in the State. The system involves scanning and storing of documents on CD for easy retrieval. Between November 1998 and April 2001, more than 1.8 million documents have been registered, over 6 lakh valuations done and over 7.5 lakh encumbrance certificates issued. The people have been greatly benefited because the registration time has come down from several weeks to less than an hour.

As of now, there are 19 e-seva centers with 200 service counters spread across Secunderabad and Hyderabad providing one-stop-shop service to the citizens, removing all jurisdiction barriers. The services provided are e-forms, e- filing, e-payments. Citizens can pay their bills, get registration of deaths and births done, apply and obtain licenses, transfer of vehicular documents , get reservation done besides benefit from the ATM services provided by some banks.

The e-seva has project has been implemented on a public-private sector partnership model. CMS Computers and RAM Informatics have partnered with the Department of Information and Technology and Communications in this unique experiment. E-seva follows the policy of the Government to implement the e- government projects on a transaction-based financing model. User charges will be collected for some of the citizens services to sustain the project.

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Section  : Other States
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