E-Governance Updates: 2/7/09

ISRAELI FIRMS EYE SLICE OF INDIA’S E-GOV PROJECTS
Bangalore
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

Israeli technology firms are joining the race for India’s e-governance projects, seeking to offer solutions for the unique identification card programme.

“Israeli companies may bid along with Indian ones as we always need local partners for e-governance projects”, Consul General of Israel Orna Sagiv said on Wednesday. Sagiv was heading a delegation of 14 Israeli software companies to Bangalore to explore the opportunities in the Indian market and find local partners.

Trade between the two countries is at $4 billion in 2008, up from $3.3 billion in 2007. Israeli exports were at $2.4 billion while Indian exports stood at $1.6 billion.

Israel will be looking to partner the Indian technology giants especially because the country has e-governance solutions like e-payment, e-documentation, registration of population and citizen smart cards already running. “Many governments around the world came to Israel to see how we did it,” said Katrin Melamed, business development manager (software industry) at the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute (IEICI), who is leading the Israeli IT delegation on a weeklong trip to India.

India is among top three trade partner for Israel in Asia and one of the top 10 trade partners globally. “This year our government decided to put special effort and give incentives to Israeli businessman who want to explore the Indian market,” said Ms Sagiv. Ms Sagiv said that the global crisis just showed Israel that the future is not only in the US and Europe, which are its traditional market. “ India and China are our markets now which are growing”, she said.

With about 3,000 indigenous IT firms, spanning hardware and software, the Israeli hitech industry has grown exponentially as the export of software from Israel has reached to $5.8 billion against $90 million in 1990. Some 40 percent of the revenue comes from the US, 20 percent from Europe and rest from other nations.” I am expecting Asia will account for more than 30 percent this year and India will play a significant role,” said Ms Melamed of IEICI.

E-ADMISSION FOR COLLEGES
Cuttack
The Telegraph

The state department of higher education has introduced a common e-admission policy for 60 colleges offering Plus Two courses.

Under this system, students passing Class X will no more have to apply to different colleges through multiple application forms.

“A common admission form to any of the Plus Two streams at the 60 colleges has been introduced from 2009-10 session,” a senior official of the department said. The forms can also be downloaded from www.dheorissa.in, till July 15.

The colleges include 50 government colleges, College of Basic Science and Humanities under Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and nine government-aided colleges at Rayagada, Nawarangpur, Sonepur, Baudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada.

ECR STORES DEPT ADOPTS E-TENDERING SYSTEM
Patna
The Times of India

ECR GM Girish Bhatnagar on Tuesday inaugurated e-tendering system at the stores department of ECR headquarters at Hajipur.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhatnagar said the new system would ensure transparency in the functioning of the stores department of the zonal office. Besides, it would save time as tenders can be awarded to firms online, he said.

The GM said the new system would automate the process of issuing tenders and submission of forms. Tabulation would also be computerized. The bidders intending to participate in the tendering process can access the website www.ireps.gov.in, he said and added other departments of railways should also adopt e-tendering system to maintain transparency in their functioning.

Later, the GM released a booklet on impressed items on the occasion. ECR controller of stores Kameshwar Choudhary and other officials attended the function.

ID PROJECT CAN BE COMPLETED FAST USING MOBILE
Kumar Shankar Roy, Chennai
The Times of India (Chennai edition)

Here is something for Nandan Nilekani and team to chew over as they start work on giving every Indian a unique ID card. Traditional methods for data collection like census are built on initial enrolment as well as moving data in a physical manner which means huge waste of paper, storage, time lapse due to conversion of physical to electronic form resulting in undue delay.

Simply by adding a smart card to a mobile phone with camera and using digital signatures, what can be done in two years could be easily achieved in a matter of months as all the information at the point of contact between the applicant and the agent can be digitally converted and uploaded in real time.

The Chennai-based Odyssey Technologies is launching its product ‘Epic’ with which a camera mobile phone consisting of a resident application and a secure key mechanism for creating digital signatures will make the use of conversion equipment like scanners and computers redundant for physical data collection.

An electronic signature is any legally recognised electronic means that indicates that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message. The company is initially in discussion with private banks, credit card companies, insurers for Know Your Customer (KYC) processes and is also targeting e-governance projects such as voter ID and PAN card which involve large-scale collection of data samples.

PATNA BETTER THAN CHENNAI TO DO BUSINESS
T K Rohit, Chennai
The Times of India (Chennai edition)

At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in January this year, Tamil Nadu electricity minister Arcot Veerasamy made a startling statement. He advised investors that instead of blindly narrowing their choice to the IT sector, they should consider putting their money in other areas — even brick kilns! Perhaps he was aware of the ground reality, even though he was laughed at then.

A recent survey instituted by the ministry of commerce and industry and carried out by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, ranked Chennai a dismal 15th among 17 cities in India for doing business. What is surprising is that Chennai lags behind even Patna, the notorious capital of Bihar where people usually don’t venture out after dark.

Industry circles in the city do not agree with the ranking, especially since Chennai is home to almost all the car majors in the world and IT companies and houses the back office of even the World Bank. But they do agree that a lot needs to be done on the ground for the city to reach no. 1 position, such as doing away with red tapism and corruption. E-governance also would help the city win investors’ confidence, they say.

“The state should establish a proper single window system, which should reduce the time taken to set up a business and also reduce the processes involved. While an announcement regarding single-window system has already been made, it remains to be seen how it is going be implemented,” K Purushothaman, regional director of Nasscom, said.

He said computerisation of the whole process of setting up a business would mean lesser hassles for those investing or starting a business here. “At the moment, CMDA and DTCP approvals take a long time. For the IT sector, we have an infrastructure tax, and we are the only state in the country to do so. Hyderabad effectively implements e-seva,” he added.

 

E-Governance India: 1/7/09

GOVT DEFERS UTN IMPLEMENTATION
New Delhi
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, the apex body administering direct taxes, on Tuesday, put on hold the new form and conditions to improve tax deduction at source filing system.

The new rules, which had been brought out without any notice, had drawn criticism from the taxpayers as it allegedly made the process further cumbersome. This was particularly as even tax department’s own software was allegedly found lacking in supporting the new form and conditions.

Thus, taxpayers filing their income tax returns for assessment year 2009-10, or any other earlier assessment year, may continue to file their returns without mentioning the unique transaction number (UTN) as required under these rules.

The filing of such returns shall be treated as valid, the CBDT said in an official statement here.

The new form for tax deductors was to come into effect from April 1, 2009.

The CBDT has also issued a new guideline as per which it would be mandatory for those sending remittances overseas to file an e-declaration with the tax department website from July 1.

NMMC GETS RS15CR FOR E-GOVERNANCE
Vasanti Banerjee, Belapur
DNA (Mumbai edition)

Adding yet another feather to its cap, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has succeeded in securing funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for its e-governance project. The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 15.11 crore to NMMC.

This has brought a cheer amongst the officials who hail this project as the key to efficient and speedy functioning of the Corporation. The project, once implemented, will change the way the civic body functions and enhance its productivity and performance making it possible to deliver results much faster.

As per this scheme, the NMMC will invite tenders for contractors to install the latest software needed for the project in all the computers and also install e-kiosks at specific locations. This spells good news for the common man since they will no longer have to stand in long queues to pay bills, secure important documents or check the status of their applications.

All important information will be available at the e-kiosks, informed a NMMC official. Residents can procure important papers like birth and death certificates, clearance and occupancy certificates using this paperless system within 15 days. Also, residents will be able to pay important bills like property tax, water bills and so on in the centralised computer system at home or at the kiosks.

NMMC is the first corporation in the country to get such a huge amount for the project.

In the past, NMMC has already received approval for the 24x7 water supply and sewage treatment projects and also received first installment for the same. Municipal

Commissioner Vijay Nahata expressed confidence in securing funds under JNNURM for the solid waste management project and five flyovers on the Palm Beach Road.

NOW, E-SAMPARK CENTRES TO COME UP IN SCHOOLS
Chandigarh
The Indian Express

The city is set to have four new e-Sampark centres, with additional facilities. This time, the centres will be located on government school premises, for which all modalities have been worked out. The centres are likely to start functioning some time in July.

In a recent communication, Chief Architect Sumit Kaur, Department of Urban Planning, wrote to Director Public Instructions (Schools) Samwartak Singh, informing him of the schools where the Administration will set up e-Sampark centres. These are government high schools in Sectors 37-D, 39-C and 48-D and the Government Senior Secondary School in Sector 56.

The new facilities to be introduced at the centres include submission of requisite forms pertaining to PAN cards and their issuance, besides multi-banking. “Modalities are being worked out to provide additional facilities at these centres. It was a long pending demand of the residents’ welfare associations to open these new e-Sampark centres,” said Director (Information Technology) Manjit Singh Brar.

At present, there are 28 services being provided at 11 e-Sampark centres and 13 gram-Sampark centres across the city. They include payment of electricity, water and phone bills; issuing birth and death certificates, senior citizen cards, bus passes; disbursement of pension for old age, widows and the disabled; school fee collection of around 20 government model senior secondary schools; doctors’ appointments for GMSH-16 and GMCH-32; passport applications.

Since September 2004, the centres collected around Rs 2,016 crore of government revenue in nearly 72 lakh transactions. According to a recent survey, the number of transactions per month has crossed the mark of 2 lakh.

 

E-Governance Updates: 30/06/09

SMART CARDS FOR KEROSENE IN BANGALORE AND PUNE
Alok Sharma, New Delhi
Financial Chronicle

To ensure that subsidy on Kerosene benefits the target groups, the government proposes to distribute smart cards in Bangalore and Pune. The project would be launched on a pilot basis in the two cities and would be expanded across the country in course of time.

“The smart cards that we are planning to distribute among the below poverty-line families is to ensure that subsidised kerosene is only reaching the intended beneficiaries and check its diversion,” Petroleum secretary, R S Pandey said.

As per industry data, misuse and diversion of kerosene under public distribution system (PDS) and residential LPG are resulting in at least Rs 45,000 crore of black money every year. Earlier, Planning Commission had suggested that the government should take appropriate measures to check diversion of PDS kerosene.

When asked how soon the government would issue such cards, Pandey said that Karnataka government has agreed to initiate the project in Bangalore, while talks are on with Maharashtra government to extend the card in Pune.

“We have already dispatched letters to the chief ministers of other states across the country, seeking their opinion to start similar process in their states,” he said.

 

RANCHI GETS TOUCHSCREEN DEVICE FOR RAIL QUERIES
Pupul Chatterjee, Ranchi
The Pioneer

Long queues at enquiry counters may be a thing of the past with the Railway Information Centre equipped with a touch screen device that will help passengers to find out their PNR status and other details. The touch screen has been installed at the information centre near the main entrance area of the Ranchi railway station for the convenience of the passengers. Apart from the PNR status, it will help people find out about the seat availability, fare and various other details.

Senior Divisional Traffic Manager of Ranchi division, Rahul Himalayan said: “In the railway stations of all major cities, this facility has been there for quite some time now. Seeing their success at other places it was decided to install a machine here for the first time as a part of the passenger amenities.”

He added that it will be helpful for the passengers who have to wait in long queues at the enquiry counters and in front of the reservation charts before boarding the trains. This will also help the railway staff to render services in a better and more organised manner. Also the enquiry counter of the Ranchi railway station has been connected to the National Train Enquiry System (NTES). Passengers will be able to access it through the enquiry counter.

Now if a person from Ranchi wants to know if a train from Chennai to Delhi or between any two railway stations in India is running on time, the enquiry counter will be able to furnish the information through NTES. Earlier, such information was available only for trains that would halt in Ranchi.

The information centre was inaugurated on Sunday by the chief operating manager SS Guru. Also present were divisional railway manager VK Agarwal and senior divisional traffic manager of Ranchi division, Rahul Himalayan.

 

5 REVENUE BOOSTERS FOR DESI IT COS
The Times of India

Battling a paucity of new contracts in its core western market, the country's information technology industry is turning its gaze inwards. While there is a slump in demand from cash-strapped global customers for new technology services, the home market is increasingly looking good for Indian IT players, with contract sizes matching the ones available overseas.

The habitual growth monster is eyeing government's Rs 40,000-crore technology spend to cope with the downturn. Also, post-elections, with a stable government at the centre, conditions seem ripe for e-governance projects to take off at both the central and state levels.

The government departments plan to spend big monies in their so-called `mission mode projects’, as the centre and state governments embrace e-governance and look to digitise everything -- from land records to tax filing. In fact, companies such as TCS, HCL and Wipro have won significant government business in recent months.

Here's looking into the growing domestic pie of Indian IT companies.

National ID card project

The national ID card project (popularly called UID project) is expected to provide an impetus to the domestic demand for IT products and solutions. A billion smart cards for a billion population means a multi-billion dollar business opportunity for domestic IT companies.

Some estimates suggest that the project will create at least an 100,000 additional jobs in the country in the next three years. The government had earmarked Rs 100 crore in the interim budget to kickstart the UID project. The entire ID card project is estimated to be in the range of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with the first phase - which will cover ultra urban, urban, and semi-urban populations - offering a Rs 6,500 crore business opportunity.

According to the plan, govt proposes to issue a unique identification number to all citizens by 2011. The Unique Identification Authority of India shall own and operate the unique identification number database and also look after its updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis. In the beginning, the UID number will be assigned based on the National Population Register or electoral rolls. Photographs and biometric data will be added to make the identification foolproof.

Healthcare

With healthcare being an important area, the govt is looking at automation of hospitals to maintain health records of citizens for distributing medicines to crack down on spurious drugs and to monitor an epidemic situation.

The telemedicine project, which will help offer medical services and advice to thousands of patients in remote parts of the country could cost almost Rs 5,000 crore depending on the scope, a senior government official familiar with the project told ET on conditions of anonymity. Some pilot telemedicine projects have already been successful in the North East. The government is also working on automating the public distribution system that provides food items at reasonable prices to poor households.

Indian Railways

Indian Railways reportedly plans to spend some $1.5 billion on upgrading its IT systems in the next two to three years. It aims to automate and integrate various processes of crew management, train scheduling and freight by spending up to $2 billion over the next few years.

Indian Railways, which is the second largest rail network in the world, also plans to outsource a contract called ‘implementation of software-aided train scheduling’, valued at around Rs 450 crore.

Indian Railways is launching mobile ticketing vans to make the booking of tickets easier. The first mobile ticketing van would be launched in Mumbai as a pilot project. The van equipped with up linking facility will issue tickets for both reserved and unreserved categories. The Railways is also planning to bring all stations across the country under one network.

Postal department

The state-owned India Postal Department too is gearing up to become a more efficient and customer-friendly organisation. Indian Post plans to evolve as an agency for delivering many citizen services through automated kiosks.

The change of logo in September last year endeavours to reflect the Indian Postal services’ corporate approach. It also reflects the departments new thrust on leveraging technology to connect the nation better.

Initiatives like DakNet, ePost and Instant Money Order (iMo) just show the growing technology side of our postal department.

e-governance deals

There are also scores of the government projects that relate to the filing of income-tax, central excise, transport services, computerising municipalities and the police force and developing e-district and e-courts.

Similarly, Desi IT companies are currently participating in pilots with various state governments and Central departments on a number of biometric devices they have developed. Such devices can be used to enroll a person in a particular scheme, check his attendance (for instance, the required 100 days under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and ensure the money goes to him and not someone else. By linking such a device to a Central database, the implementation of a programme can be measured and leakage can be checked.