informaticsinformatics.nic.in/uploads/pdfs/e998f965_informatics july 2013.pdf · we dedicate this...

2 | informatics.nic.in | July 2013

PATRONA Mohan

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFNeeta Verma

ADVISORY PANELC.S.R Prabhu

Anjana ChoudharySanjay GahloutP. Krishna Prasad Ajay Rampal

EDITORIAL BOARDR. Gayatri

Vivek VermaRubaiyat AliAnshu Rohatgi

Mohan Das ViswamPrashant Belwariar

WEB VERSIONLokesh JoshiRitu Ghai

PRINT, CIRCULATION & DISPATCHA K AggarwalAnita Arora

Anita BhardwajJasvinder Kaur

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCEBhuvan Chopra

informaticsVolume 22 No.1 July 2013

PUBLISHED BY:-National Informatics Centre,Department of Electronics &

Information Technology, Ministry ofCommunications & InformationTechnology, Government of India

A-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,New Delhi-110003

PRINTED AT:-CIRRUS GRAPHICS PVT. LTD.

B-62/14, Naraina Industrial Area, Ph-II,New Delhi-110028 (INDIA)

Dr. N. Seshagiri, the founder DirectorGeneral of National InformaticsCentre and the patriarch of India’s ITadvancements, is no more with ustoday. The man of unchallengedwisdom, Dr. Seshagiri has played akey role in the establishment of ICT inIndia. His futuristic thinking andapproach lead to the genesis of liberalsoftware and hardware policies. Henurtured a whole armada of scientistsand technocrats, which furtherstrengthened the cause of e-Governance in the country. I feelmuch privileged and proud to have closely associated with him onseveral important projects/missions and consider him as aninspirational role model.

Dr. Seshagiri’s sad demise has left behind an irreparable void, but hewill be reckoned as a messiah of ICT for generations of technocrats.We dedicate this edition of Informatics to this great visionary andthus pray for the departed soul to rest in peace.

In this issue’s From the States/UTs section, we take you through ajourney of 25 Glorious Years of NIC Rajasthan, and also an articlefocusing on various ICT initiatives of the Lakshadweep Islands. TheTechnology Update section this time discusses the Open SourceHardware and the Importance of Standards and its Use in Healthcare.The e-Gov Products and Services section gives you an insight onvarious e-Governance related products & services initiated benefittingthe common masses.

The section District Informatics tells you the success stories of ICT inthe districts of Rohtas, Sehore and Rohtak. Our other regular sectionssuch as International e-Gov Updates, Cyber Governance and In theNews would apprise you on the latest developments in technologyfor better governance in India and across the world as well.

Wish you a pleasant reading.

Editor-in-ChiefRoom No-375, 3rd Floor, NIC-HQA-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi RoadNew Delhi-110 [email protected]

EDITORIAL

We invite your valuable articles and write-ups to be published in Informatics.

Please send your inputs/contributions to our State Correspondents or else directlyto us at the address below:

NEETA VERMA

July 2013 | informatics.nic.in | 3

LEAD STORY

4-7 Tribute to a Great Visionary: Dr. N. Seshagiri

E-GOV PRODUCTS &SERVICES

8-9 NIKSHAY - A Web-based Solutionfor Monitoring of TB Patients

10-11 eDMAIs: Delivering MechanizedAgricultural Implements System

12-13 e-Office: Knowledge ManagementSystem

14-15 ISES - Integrated Socio-EconomicSurvey of Students

16-17 Empowering People Participation inDecentralized Planning Processthrough Integrated SPIDER and e-MANCHITRA Geo Portals

18-19 Samay Sudhini Seva- OnlineMonitoring of Time bound Services

20- 21 NEET-UG - National Eligibility cumEntrance Test for Under Graduates

FROM THE STATES/UTs

22-26 Lakshadweep Islands- DigitallyBridging the Nautical Seclusion

27-30 Rajasthan- Celebrating TwentyFive Glorious Years

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

31-32 Open Source Hardware - AnEmerging World of Opportunities

33-34 The Importance of Standards andits Use in Healthcare

DISTRICT INFORMATICS

35-36 Sehore: Heralding a ParadigmShift in e-Governance Regime

37-38 Rohtas: Empowering Massesthrough e-Governance

39-40 Rohtak: ICT Hub for e-Governancein Haryana

CONTENTS

39-40

41-42 INTERNATIONAL E-GOV UPDATE

43-44 CYBER GOVERNANCE

45-48 IN THE NEWS

27-3014-15

4-7


Lead Story

Tribute to a Great Visionary: Dr. N. Seshagiri (1940 to 2013)

A visionary, a crusader, a philosopher, atechnocrat, an evangelist… words do fallshort to describe the enigmaticpersonality of Dr. Narasimaiah Seshagiri.As a man of path-breaking wisdom anda catalyst of IT revolution in India, Dr.Seshagiri has made the ICT culturepalpable in various sectors across thecountry.

Born on 10th May 1940, Dr. Seshagirireceived his Ph.D in MicrowaveTelecommunication Engineering fromIndian Institute of Science (IISc)Bangalore. In 1966, he moved to TataInstitute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)and worked on satellite communicationsand space-craft design. He was honouredwith the prestigious "Vikram Sarabhai”Award for ‘optimal design simulation oflow energy consumption space-craftdesign’. Professor MGK Menon who wasthe Director of TIFR during the period,discovered the immense talent and

intellect of Dr. Seshagiri and encouragedhim to assist in setting-up of theElectronics Commission in India. Thisinvolved evolving of policy and planningof technology to improve the quality oflife of the masses.

Dr. Seshagiri's vision led to the successfulpreparation of the first document onPerspective Plan for growth of ElectronicsIndustry in India. As a follow up of theacceptance of this report at the Cabinetlevel, the Central Government approvedthe setting up of a National ComputerCentre in New Delhi. This new centre wasenvisaged to function as a National levelrepository of information linked tovarious analytical reports for promotionof industrial growth in key, thrust areas.The evolution of licensing policy focusedon indigenous growth of electronicsproduction and promotion of R&D wasanother focus area.

Dr. N. Seshagiri, founder andthe former Director Generalof National InformaticsCentre, left for heavenlyabode on Sunday the 26th ofMay 2013. Dr. Seshagiri wasblessed with immenseintellectual potential andhigh technical quotient. Asthe mastermind of theNationwide ComputerNetwork (NICNET),Dr.Seshagiri drafted varioussoftware and hardwarepolicies that revolutionizedInformation Technology (IT)in the country. He wasinstrumental in setting up ofthe Software TechnologyParks in India and was alsothe crusader of e-Governance movement inthe country. Today, thefounding father of NIC maynot be with us, but hisinspiring ideas will continueto guide us and thegenerations to come.


Lead Story

IPAG And nICRecognizing Dr. Seshagiri’s ability forhard work coupled with his pioneeringand novel thinking, Prof. M.G.K. Menonfacilitated the carving out of a NationalCentre for Electronics and set it up asseparate entity under Dr.Seshagiri. Titledas Information Planning & AnalysisGroup (IPAG), this new setup offerednumerous policy initiatives governingindustrial promotion, encouragingindigenization efforts with quality R&Dfor reduction of imports and thus savingsin Foreign Exchange.

Towards the latter half of 1976, focusingon the need and importance of rightinformation at the right place at the righttime, the Electronics Commission decidedto retain policy framing and itsimplementation related work withDepartment of Electronics. It was decidedto provide special impetus to informatics-led improvements in thedecision making process of variousGovernment Departments and Ministries.This initiative was exclusively directed tousher-inoperational excellence ofgovernance both at Central and Statelevels. This led to the institution ofNational Informatics Centre (NIC) withDr. Seshagirias its first founding DirectorGeneral.

IT PolICIes In IndIADr. Seshagiri played an instrumental rolein drafting the software and hardwarepolicies in India. The first ComputerPolicy launched in 1983 has transformedthe Information Technology scenario inthe country. He also took a lead role inthe development of Computer HardwarePolicy 1984, and the first SoftwareDevelopment, Export and Training Policyin 1986.

In 1998, under the Chairmanship of Prof.MGK Menon, he was the Member-Convenor of the prestigious NationalTask Force on IT which drafted theNational IT Policy with 108recommendations to “transform Indiainto a Global Software Power by 2008”.

nICneTDr. Seshagiri aspired to bring in ITrevolution at the grass-root level for thebenefit of the common masses. One of hismissions was to introduce computer andNetworks at all levels in the government.He worked religiously to fulfill thismission, which lead to the origin ofNationwide Computer Network orNICNET program. He played a decisiverole in setting up the DISNIC Programmein the country to usher in the ICTrevolution in more than 400 districts in1987. Dr. Seshagiri promoted setting upof the first VSAT network, the very firstone outside the US.

sofTwAre TeChnoloGy PArks In IndIA

(sTPI)Dr. Seshagirihad played an influentialrole in setting up of the SoftwareTechnology Parks of India, which will bereckoned for generations to come. TheSTPI has catalyzed the emergence ofIndian IT sector, which further assistedIndian IT industry to get connected to its


Lead Story

global counterparts. Dr. Seshagiri strivedhard to get the US-based global chipmaker Texas Instruments to open itsoffshore development centre inBangalore, with his 'flood-in and flood-out software policy'. Apart from shapingsoftware policies, he made the softwareexports and systems manufacturingindustry in India a reality. Mentioningabout his charisma, NR Narayana Murthyonce said: “He is a man with no axe togrind, doesn't take any sides, and takesyour argument coolly if logic is on yourside".

e-GovernAnCe MoveMenTDr. Seshagiri’s vision helped in initiatingthe e-Governance movement in India.Throughout 80’s and 90’s, his dedicated

efforts caused establishment of a robuste-Governance framework across thecountry. He is indeed the “Father of e-Governance Movement in India”. He wasinstrumental in developing manyinnovative e-Governance applications inIndia. During his 25-year leadership ofNIC, he groomed a generation ofscientists, engineers and technocrats toprovide leadership in e- Governanceacross the country.

In 1995, Dr. Seshagiri planned to extendthe idea of Informatics into theagriculture sector in order to benefitfarmers, extension workers and othersassociated with the agriculture industry.Today, Agriculture Informatics isdeveloped into a full-scale discipline. He

was also an eminent propagandist of Bio-Informatics.

A GreAT vIsIonAryDr. Seshagiri was instrumental inestablishing and grooming a number ofInstitutions. Some of these leadinginstitutions are CDAC, NCTI, NICSI toname a few. He authored over 20 booksand more than 100 research papers. Hislatest contribution, 27th Volume ofRural Survey of India was published inMarch 2013.

Dr. Seshagiri’s optimism and enthusiasmled to the origin of many technologicalbenchmarks including a full-fledged X.25based network using satellitecommunication.

The Public Private Partnership or PPPModel, synonymous with many


Lead Story

e-Governance projects today in thecountry, was his brainchild. He was alsoon the forefront to take up planning andanalysis in case of many technologicalprojects.

Dr. Seshagiri was always an exponentwhen it comes to inducting any new formof technology. He was credited for the

introduction of first-ever Desktop Systemin Hindi in 1985. Besides this, theMedical Records System, GIS work, andJurisprudence are all inceptions of thiseminent technologist.

AwArds And reCoGnITIonsRecognizing his immense contributiontowards the growth of IT sector in India

and its applications in governance, Dr.Seshagiri was conferred with PadmaBhushan in the year 2005. He was alsohonoured at national and internationallevels. Vikram Sarabhai Award, O PBhasin Award, Asiad Jyoti Award,Karnataka Rajya-Utsav Jyoti Award,Dataquest Lifetime Achievement Awardto name a few.

Dr. Seshagiri was also a Fellow of manypremier professional institutionsincluding National Academy of Sciences,Indian Academy of Sciences, ComputerSociety of India and IETE. He was also anElected Governor of the InternationalCouncil for Computer Communication.

Dr. N. Seshagiri passed away on 26thMay, 2013 at the age of 73. Today, thefounding father of NIC may not be withus, but his inspiring ideas and aspirationswill continue to guide us, and thegenerations to come. We pray for hiseternal soul to rest in peace.

Compiled By:Informatics Editorial Team

With Inputs from many NICians

Dr. Seshagiri receiving Padma Bhushan Award from then Hon'ble President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2005


Edited by Mohan Das Viswam

The Revised National TuberculosisControl Program (RNTCP), incorporatingthe components of the internationallyrecommended DOTS strategy for controlof TB has been implemented across thecountry for more than a decade. Thespread of Human ImmunodeficiencyVirus (HIV) during the last 2 decades, theemergence of various forms of drug-resistant TB and unregulated, vast privatehealth sector pose additional challengesto effective TB control.

To monitor the data on individual TBpatients across the country, Government ofIndia decided to develop a system calledNIKSHAY, which is a combination of twoHindi words- NI (िनवारण) and KSHAY (क्षय)meaning eradication of tuberculosis.NIKSHAY (http://nikshay.gov.in) is a webenabled application, which facilitates themonitoring of universal access to TBpatients’ data by all stakeholders. Thesystem has been developed jointly by theCentral TB Division of Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare and NationalInformatics Centre (NIC). This waslaunched by the Government of India inJune 2012 with issuance of requiredadministrative directions from Central TBDivision for use of NIKSHAY. A gazettenotification was published by theGovernment of India mandating allprivate health establishments to informthe details of TB patients treated by themto NIKSHAY repository.

NIKSHAY has two broad objectives. Oneis to create a database of all TB patientsincluding Multi-Drug Resistant casesacross the country and the second is touse this database for monitoring and forresearch purposes at all levels for theeradication of TB effectively in India.

Overview Of NiKSHAY

The use of Information Technology toolsand techniques made it possible for thegrass-root level healthcare providers totrack data of every TB patient. The most

significant feature of NIKSHAY is that itpromotes the use of IT upto TuberculosisUnit (TU) level, thus marginalizing thedigital divide. To extend the reach CentralTB Division has also developed a Video

SUNIL KUMARSenior Technical [email protected]

To monitor RevisedNational TuberculosisProgramme (RNTCP)effectively, a web-enabledand case-based monitoringapplication called NIKSHAYhas been developed byNational Informatics Centre(NIC). This is used by healthfunctionaries at variouslevels across the country inassociation with Central TBDivision (CTD), Ministry ofHealth & Family Welfare.NIKSHAY covers variousaspects of controlling TBusing technologicalinnovations. Apart fromweb based technology, SMSservices have been usedeffectively forcommunication withpatients and monitoring theprogramme on day-to-daybasis.

e-Gov Products & Services

NIKSHAY-A Web-based Solution for Monitoring of TB Patients

‘Information Technology hastremendous potential to improve thehealth services. Central TB Division,Directorate General of Health Services,Ministry of Health & Family Welfare inassociation with National InformaticsCentre (NIC) has developed a casebased web based ICT applicationNIKSHAY, wherein details of all TBpatients across the country are entered.The application is used for monitoringand tracking of individual patientsnotified to the RNTCP. Till now, we have1.2 million cases entered in thisapplication.

NIKSHAY envisages e-notification of alltypes of TB cases with provision of freequality assured drugs. NIKSHAY willalso be used for e-payments ofremunerations to the contractual staff,honorarium for DOT Providers andpayments of partners under theprogramme. We are also lookingforward for linkages with e-services likePDS system for provision of nutrition toTB patients with the help of NIC.’

DR. R. S. GUPTADDG (TB), Central TB Division

Deployment Architecture for NIKSHAY


based training module (in Hindi andEnglish).

NIKSHAY has been implemented at 6levels across the country i.e. National,State, District & Tuberculosis Unit (TU),Culture & Drug Susceptibility TestingLabs, DRTB Centres. Data entry in termsof registering the TB patients, pre-treatment and follow-up tests, treatment,HIV and contact tracing details is done atTU level. Such TB patient’s database isbeing used at District, State and Nationallevel for monitoring purposes.

The Government’s health establishments notcovered under RNTCP have to inform aboutTB patients. NIKSHAY facilitates theregistration of all such health

establishments and entry of their TBpatients.

NIKSHAY utilizes the Short MessageService (SMS) technology effectively.Through SMS, NIKSHAY communicates with TB patients & grass-root level healthcare serviceproviders as well as health and familywelfare policy makers, health managersand health administrators at differenttiers of the Healthcare Delivery System.Whenever a new patient is registered onNIKSHAY, SMS is sent to the patient withregistration ID and details of DOTSOperator along with an advisory note totake the regular medicine. Daily SMS issent to all monitoring authorities from

Central TB Division (CTD) to State TBOfficers (STO), District TB Officers (DTO)giving the number of TB patients,Designated Microscopic Centre(DMC)/Peripheral Health Interface (PHI)registered, profiles of STOs, DTOs and TUsupdated, entry of contractual manpower,Health establishments registered andpatients that have been notified.

NIKSHAY is a role based web applicationwith 6 distinct roles allocated to differentlevels as per details given in the table.

CurreNt StAtuS

NIKSHAY was launched on 4 June, 2012at http://www.nikshay.gov.in. As of now,more than 12.5 lakh TB patients havebeen registered. Details of 38,051DMCs/PHIs, 2490 TBUs, 655 DTOs and 35STOs are available on NIKSHAY.

teCHNOlOgY AdOpted

NIKSHAY has been developed usingWindows Server 2008 R2 as OperatingSystem, MS SQL Server 2008 Enterpriseas Database, Internet Information Server(IIS) as Web Server and .NET (C#) asdevelopment tool.

impACt

After the operationalization of NIKSHAY,substantial improvements have beenobserved in RNTCP operations. Theprogramme implementing authorities atall levels are now enabled to retrievedetails of any TB patient and if necessary,contact them for monitoring their DOTSadministration schedule. Another benefitof NIKSHAY is a correlation between TB& HIV, leading to an outcome analysis of treatment, which may givenew directions to TB treatment in thecoming years.

For Further InformationSunil Kumar

Senior Technical Director

Health Informatics Division, NIC

E-mail: [email protected]


Role Modules

Tuberculosis Unit Level

TB Patient Registration, Contact Tracing, HIV Treatment, Treatment Outcome, Follow Up, TB Notification Patient Details Entry, Search TB Patient by Patient ID or Navigation, Master Management of DMC/PHI, User Management, Reports, Training Video

District Level

TB Notification Health Establishment Registration and Patient Details Entry, Contractual Staff Entry at district level, Search TB Patient by Patient ID or Navigation, Master Management, User Management, Reports

State Level Search TB Patient by Patient ID or Navigation, Contractual Staff Entry at the state level, User Management of TUs and districts under the state, Master Management of TUs under all districts of the state, Reports

Central TB Division

User Management for State/District and TUs, Master Management, Data Management, Contractual Staff Entry at CTD level, Search TB Patient by Patient ID or Navigation, Reports, Dash Board Reports

Culture & Drug susceptibility Laboratories

User Management, Master Management (CDSLAB Coverage Area mapping), Human Resource Management (Contractual Staff Details), CDST Details (Registration, Smear Microscopy Results, Molecular TB/DST Results, Culture Results, DST Results)

DRTB Centres

User Management, Master Management (DRTBC Coverage Area Mapping), Human Resource Management (Contraual Staff Details), MDR Patients (Registration, Decisions Details, HIV Treatment, Treatment Details, Lab Results Details, Treatment Outcome)


Edited by Prashant Belawariar

Mechanized agriculture is the process ofusing agricultural machinery to enhanceproductivity. Govt. of Odisha is assistingfarmers with subsidy to procure differentfarm implements. Director of Agricultureand Food Production (A&FP),implemented eDMAIs - a monitoringsystem to bring transparency andaccountability in the delivery ofimplements to the farmers along withonline payment of subsidy to the vendors(http://agrisnetodisha.ori.nic.in).

Major objectives• Online registration of vendors

• Entry of farmers’ applications

• Identity verification of the beneficiaries

• Monitoring implements delivery to thebeneficiaries

• Quick disposal of subsidy amount tothevendor/beneficiary/bank

stakeholders• Directorate of Agriculture and FoodProduction, Odisha

• Deputy Director Agriculture (DDA) &District Agriculture Officer (DAO) of alldistricts of Odisha

• Assistant Agriculture Engineers (AAE)of all districts of Odisha

• Vendors of various mechanizedinstruments

• Bank of India, Bhubaneswar branch

• Farmers across the State

role of vendorsSince mechanized instruments aresupplied by the registered vendors, theinstrument details are filled up online bythe vendor and a system generated SMSalert is sent to the concerned AAE forverification.

role of aaeAAE goes through the pending list of all

instruments online and accordingly visitthe site for verification. After verification,the machine is photographed along withthe beneficiary and the AAE & isuploaded on the portal. Simultaneously,a computer generated SMS is sent to theconcerned registered vendor. Then, thevendor submits its bill directly to thebank for release of subsidy.

role of bank Banks follow 2-step verification forrelease of subsidy:

step 1Banks check/scrutinize all the documentssubmitted by the vendor with the onlinedata.

step 2Banks verify the scrutinized documentsagain relating to the financial part andthen finally release the subsidy to thefarmers/vendors.

SARITA SAHOOPrincipal Systems [email protected]

Improved farm implementsand machinery are used fordifferent farm operations toincrease productivity ofland and labour throughtimeliness of operations,efficient use of inputs,improvement in the qualityof produce, safety andcomfort of farmers,reduction in loss of produceand drudgery of farmers.Mechanization results insaved labor, which can beutilized for processing ofagricultural produce,marketing of fresh &processed products,manufacturing & sale ofimproved tools &implements and other alliedactivities.


eDMAIs-Delivering Mechanized Agricultural Implements System

ICT will enable the Agriculture sector toserve the farmers in an efficient way. Byspeeding up the processes, farmers willbe encouraged in their efforts. Minimal bureaucracy, authenticatedtransactions and speedier disbursal areall essential for today’s agriculturalsector. We can not afford to be leftbehind in technological solutions.

R.S.GOPALAN, IAS

Director


Thus, G2G, G2B and G2C services areprovided by the system.

G2G servicesNinety seven District Agriculture Circles,thirty District Agriculture Offices (DAO)are working under the Directorate of A & FP. Permit issued from DAO areconstantly monitored by the officers ofengineering section of the Directorate, aswell as by all District Collectorate andMinistry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.

G2b servicesOnline issuance of permit is reflected atthe pages of Registered ImplementDealers to negotiate with the farmersregarding the cost of implements. Thesystem also facilitates banks to releasethe subsidy amount to the dealers and thebeneficiaries after proper onlineverification.

G2c servicesThe citizens (farmers) get updated statusof their applications at each stagethrough SMS.

key deliverables• DAO circle wise report on target, permit

issued, machines supplied, verificationmade and release of payment

• District wise/Block wise reports on allparameters

• Total Permits Generated Report

• Permits Invalid Report

• All the Financial Reports

• Rejection Report of AAEs/banks withcause achievements

• Schemes including Work plan, Stateplan and Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana(RKVY) etc are integrated with thesystem.

• 685 dealers have registered in 934categories of mechanized instrumentsover the portal.

• Since 2012, 44028 applications havebeen processed while 14,189 farmershave been benefited.

• Rs.82.14 crore have been releasedtowards the subsidy.

• Subsidy is released within 3 days afteronline verification by the designatedbank whereas previously it took months.

• Won National Award for e-Governance, 2012-13 for outstandingperformance in citizen-centric servicedelivery category.

For Further InformationMs. Sarita Sahoo,

Principal Systems Analyst

AGRISNET Coordinator

NIC State Centre, Odisha



Shri R. S. Gopalan, IAS, Director, Directorate of Agriculture & Food Production andSmt.Sarita Sahoo, AGRISNET Coordinator NIC, Odisha receiving the award from Shri AshokGehlot, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan and Shri V. Narayanswamy, Hon’bleMinister of State for PMO and Administrative Reforms




Government offices need to manage largevolumes of documents of variouscategories. These documents can bePolicies, Forms, Acts & Regulations,Circulars, Guidelines, Standards andManuals. Maintaining a central, singlerepository of documents from where, alldepartment/ministry users can access theinformation, helps in reducing theadministrative overload, leading to bettermanagement of documents.

eOffice enables users to create andmanage electronic documents that can besearched, viewed, and shared. It is wellcapable of keeping track of the differentversions modified by different users(Tracking history). It also contains adynamic workflow to keep document atvarious stages.

Background

Knowledge and Document ManagementSystems are built ensuring the followingset of features:

• Metadata: The system containsmetadata like title, description, author,keywords etc for easy segregation ofdocuments.

• Indexing: Index and create catalogs foreasy searching

• Storage and Retrieval: The systemensures easy storage and retrieval ofelectronic documents.

• Security: The system ensures thatwhich information has to be shown towhom and when.

• Workflow: The system has a workflowto control the various stages of thedocument.

• Collaboration: Users can share,comment and also able to get alerts onthe documents.

• Versioning: Versioning allows users to

retrieve previous versions and tocontinue work from a selected point.

• Searching: Easy and advance searchhelps users to retrieve the documentseasily.

• Publishing: This feature ensures thatthe documents are accessible to all theusers.

How eoffice kMS workS?

eOffice KMS is a web based documentmanagement system with advancedrange of features.

eOffice KMS supports creation ofelectronic documents either by uploadingan electronic file or by creating an onlinedocument using advanced text editor.

KAPIL KUMARSHARMAPrincipal Systems [email protected]

eOffice KMS is a simple,easy to use and richfeature, browser baseddocument managementsystem.It transforms both paperand electronicdocuments intoknowledge assets thatcan be instantly used bythe organizationworkforce.

SANKALP AGARWALScientific Officer/Engineer- SB

[email protected]

eOffice KMS has provided LBSNAAemployees a one-stop platform toaccess organizational knowledge,hitherto scattered in silos. It hasimproved transparency, efficiencyand speed in decision-making. Weinvariably showcase our ICTinitiatives including e-office in alltraining programmes-induction aswell as inservice which helpsdisseminate such good practicesacross the country.

PADAMVIR SINGH, IASDirector, LBSNAA, Mussoorie

Knowledge Management System



The document so created can be sharedwith other users or can be submitted fora review to publish it for all other usersby the reviewer. This serves as NoticeBoard to the organization.

Documents are managed in two separaterepositories: a central repository actingas the one single repository for theorganization. Documents are kept in acategorized manner in the form of foldersand subfolders. The other repository is“the user’s my repository” where userscan create their own documents and alsoshare these documents with other users.These repositories also act as thedocument stores and the documents canbe easily accessed any where usinginternet and web browser.

eOffice KMS also ensures high security ofthe documents. It manages what andwhich information is to be shared withwhom and when. The documents andfolders are secured using the flexibledynamic workflow, build according to theneed of organization.

Collaboration is another feature providedin eOffice KMS. A document can beshared with other users. Users canprovide comments on the documents.Documents and folders can be subscribedfor alerts. It also supports the advancedediting option with working copy supportusing the check out and check in options.

Document versioning with comparison isalso available with eOffice KMS.Searching and retrieving documents in

eOffice KMS is simple. Thesystem provides a livesearch feature along withan advance search option tosearch the documents basedon their title, description orany other content placedwithin the documents.

eOffice KMS is nowextended to mobile devicesusing mOffice Android Appand Java based mobilebrowser. This has ensuredthat the documents can nowbe accessed and sharedwhile on the move.

Salient featureS of

eoffice kMS

• Document & FolderCreation & Management:The system facilitates easycreation of electronicdocuments by uploading or from emailinbox.

• Easy Searching & Retrieval: It ensureseasy searching and access of documentsanywhere, anytime.

• Document Security: Role based accessfor each document

• Collaboration Features: KMS helps insharing, subscriptions and discussion &alerts on documents.

• Document Versioning: Every change indocument is kept as separate versionalong with the track change feature.

• Easy Sharing:Personal ContactList has beenprovided in thesystem for easysharing.

• Working CopySupport: Thisfeature helps inavoiding duplicityof work amongmultiple users.

• Multi-lingualSupport: Thisfeature supportsany Unicodesupportedlanguages.

BenefitS of kMS

• Organization wise access to documents

• Quick and easy retrieval of documents

• Central storage of documents withaccess permission ensures enhancedsecurity and integrity of documents

• Securely stores and indexes documentsfor fast retrieval

• Reduced storage cost

tecHnology arcHitecture

eOffice KMS is built using Open SourceTechnology Framework. It has beendeveloped using Python and designed towork with Zope and Plone (ContentManagement System). The RDBMS usedin backend is PostgreSQL.

iMpleMentation

eOffice KMS has been successfullyimplemented in over 55 Ministries andDepartments of Government of India,State Governments, District Collectoratesand PSUs. Some of the majorimplementations along its statistics aredepicted in the bar graph (fig. I) Theoffline desktop based version of the KMSis in the process of development.

For Further Information:Sankalp Agarwal

Scientific Officer

eOffice Project Division, Delhi

E-mail: [email protected] I



Edited by R. Gayatri

Mee Seva is an easier, faster, online, webbased, transparent and secured citizen-centric service facility to provideconvenient access to the citizens withoutany need for them to go to multipleGovernment offices for getting their workdone. Efforts have been invested to offervarious services through a seamless andintegrated architecture and a friendlyinterface to the citizens availing servicesfrom various departments.

The certificates/documents issued underMee Seva project are digitally signed bythe authorized signatories in consonancewith the Information Technology(Amendment) Act, 2008 and AndhraPradesh Information Technology Rules(Electronic Service Delivery) 2011. Thesecertificates/documents are printed onsecured stationary which has various

security features to minimize circulationof fake certificates. Every transaction inMee Seva is monitored and trackedthrough a web based system. This enablesstrict adherence to the citizen charter andlimits the time pertaining to theseservices. The facility has been providedto deliver the certificates/documentsthrough post, based on the person’schoice. The person also receives SMSalert once the request isapproved/rejected.

Services delivered through Mee Seva arebroadly classified into Category “A” andCategory “B”. Category “A” services canbe delivered across the counter by theMee Seva operator. Availability ofdigitally signed data is the prerequisitefor these services. Category “B” servicesrequire back-end operations fromconcerned office of the issuing authority.

P. GAYATRI Technical Director [email protected]

The Government of AndhraPradesh has desired todeliver the citizen–centricservices from a centralizedlocation through all citizenservice centres such as e-Seva, AP Online, CSCs acrossthe state under a newinitiative called “MeeSeva”.A web based application-ISES has been designed anddeveloped by NIC Hyderabadfor preparation of thedigitally signed database ofstudent records so as toenable electronic delivery ofvarious certificates acrossthe counter.

M.G.CHANDRASEKHAR

Senior Systems Analyst [email protected]

ISES-Integrated Socio-Economic Survey of Students

ISES Data & Process Flow



Integrated SocIo-economIc Survey of

StudentS

As part of the MeeSeva, the Governmenttook a decision to conduct a survey of allstudents studying in SSC (Class X) andabove and create a digitally signeddatabase of their Income, Residence andIntegrated (Caste-Nativity-Date of Birth)Certificates.

A web based application- ISES, for thispurpose, was designed and developed byNational Informatics Centre, Hyderabad,to aid the department in the preparationof the digitally signed database of studentrecords so as to enable electronic deliveryof the above mentioned certificatesacross the counter (Category A services).

technology

Web-based, two-tier technology withMicrosoft ASP.Net in C# with backend onMicrosoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQLServer Reporting Services is used for thegenesis of ISES application.

other InnovatIve technologIeS

related to thIS applIcatIon

1. Use of state-of-the-art technology,Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) forintegrating the ISES Database to MeeSevaPortal for service delivery

2. Use of Digital Signatures following theESD (Electronic Service Delivery) rules,authorizing Tahsildars to digitally signthe students’ data

3. Conception of NIC-AP-DIGISIGNER, aDigital Signature Component devised byNIC, Hyderabad with the support fromMicrosoft Inc. The component is appliedfor signing student data and verificationof signed data during service delivery.

4. Use of SSRS for printing a variety ofDistrict, Mandal, Village, Municipalityand Ward-wise Reports

5. SMS alerts to the students soon afterdigitally signing of the respective studentdata

6. Use of AJAX technology for anefficient and enhanced user interface

SalIent featureS of the Software

applIcatIon package

1. Devise of a Java-script callableCOM/ActiveX wrapper for Digitallysigning data records

2. Unique ID provision for every studentacross the state

3. Upload facility to store Income, Caste,Address Verification Reports

4. Facility to export/print reports invarious formats, viz., PDF, MS-Word,MS-Excel, XML

5. Digitally signing student records eitherin bulk or individually

6. Workflow escalation for digitallysigning Special Castes Certificates

7. Revoke signatures with reason capture

8. Audit trail on revocation of signatures

9. Return/Reject procedure for wronglydealt records

10. Provision of abstract, detailed reportsfor every administrative level (State,District, Division, Tehsil)

current StatuS

ISES application has become operationalsince 1st January, 2012. Till date, 1.5 lakhIncome Certificates, 1.5 lakh IntegratedCertificates, and 0.30 lakh ResidenceCertificates have been issued to thestudents across the counter from variousMeeSeva centres/kiosks.

For Further Information:P. Gayatri

Technical Director,

NIC, Hyderabad

Email: [email protected]

ISES Service Life Cycle Diagram



Empowering People Participation in Decentralized Planning Process through

INTEGRATED SPIDER & e-MANCHITRAGEO PORTALS

Edited by Anshu Rohatgi

The concept of good governance inmodern times has gone through manyphases. In the pre-independence periodGandhiji’s vision of good governanceessentially meant democraticdecentralization which entailed power tothe Gram Panchayats (GPs) and people atthe lowest level of political hierarchy. Bythe early 1990s, the idea of goodgovernance was freed from the elementof coercion and external force, spurringa number of policy initiatives based onthe demand for participatorydevelopment, transparency in decisionmaking and empowerment of people todecide and shape their destiny. Afterindependence, both the Central and StateGovernments of India, are trying toremove inter & intra regional disparitiesat macro & micro levels. The 73rd and74th amendments of the Constitutionhave bestowed greater responsibilitiesand powers to the local bodies,positioning them as the third tier ofgovernance. The Planning Department ofUttar Pradesh Government (GoUP) iscollecting data on more than 4,000parameters from various socio-economicsectors like Agriculture, Industry, SocialSector, Power, Urban Facilities, RuralInfrastructural Facilities etc at village,block and district levels.

These information are annually publishedand maintained in the form of block,district and divisional SankhyikiyaPatrikas (SPs) in more than 100tables/sub-tables and 1000 maps, sinceearly seventies.

Integrated SPIder and e-ManCHItra

geo PortalS

To overcome the maladies affecting themanual system and to reduce theworkload and to increase the efficiency,transparency, visualization; SPIDER(Sankhyikiya Patrika: Internet based Data Entry and Retrieval(http://updes.up.nic.in/spatrika)) and e-MANCHITRA (Map based Analytical

DR. L. R. YADAVSenior Technical [email protected]

R. S. SINGHPrincipal Systems [email protected]

NAVEEN KAPOORTechnical Director

[email protected]

To overcome the maladiesaffecting the manualsystem and to reduce theworkload and to increasethe efficiency, transparency,visualization; SPIDER & e-MANCHITRA portals havebeen developed andintegrated. The integrationof SPIDER & e-MANCHITRAGeo portals has madeinformation visualizationeasier, transparent anduseful.

Meaningful planning process is themost efficacious tool for goodgovernance as it is a sensitiveinstrument for removing regionaldisparities and redressing regionalimbalances. But, in order to beeffective and accurate, the planningprocess has to be supported by up-to-date and real time data to attainsustainable, equitable and spatiallywell dispersed development. Withoutfulfilling this imperative, thedecentralized planning would lose itsdelivering edge. With a view toachieve this objective, ‘SPIDER’ and ‘e-Manchitra’ Geo-portals have beensuccessfully integrated and pressedinto operation by the U.P. State Unit ofthe NIC, with an impressive user-friendly quality.

I congratulate the NIC, UP team fordisplaying outstanding quality of workin developing, implementing thisextremely useful project sosuccessfully, which is so very relevantto planners, administrators, publicrepresentatives and students ofplanning process.

My best wishes to the NIC, UP team forongoing endeavors and futureinitiatives.

NAVEEN CHANDRA BAJPEIDy. Chairman, State PlanningCommission, Uttar Pradesh



Charting and Reporting Application(http://emanchitra.up.nic.in/emanchitra))Geo portals have been developed andintegrated over the period, rendering thedecentralized district and local levelplanning decisions easier andtransparent. The SP databases of last 18years i.e. 1995-2012 have been generatedusing various SPIDER modules for Dataentry, Report generation, Map basedquery system etc. In the year 2003, aBilingual State Planning Atlas (SPA)using GIS tools, was prepared by NIC,Uttar Pradesh for the first time and sincethen SPAs are annually published usingGIS tools in the form of a book and thesame is also available on the Internet.

Realizing the potential of the geospatialtechnology, Planning Department, GoUPand NIC, Uttar Pradesh jointlyconceptualized a GIS project during theyear 2008-09 for creating GISinfrastructures and generating a largenumber of online thematic maps andcharts for understanding the gaps in thedecentralized planning and measuringsustainable developments at the village,block & district, panchayat levels. GIScells were set-up in all the districts andState Planning Department in 2009-10and are networked for exchanging

geospatialinformation. e-MANCHITRA Geoportal has beendeveloped usingArc GIS Web ADFfor Microsoft .NETfor generatingannually more than10,000 onlinethematic maps andcharts on equal aswell as on unequalintervals fordifferent levelsstarting from stateto gram panchayat.Dynamic thematicmaps areautomaticallygenerated throughSPIDER portalindicators whichreach via linkserver to Geo-database of Arc GISserver where GPs,blocks, districts, divisional, regional andstate boundaries are already available.The integration of SPIDER & e-MANCHITRA Geo portals has madeinformation visualization easier,

transparent anduseful.

CHallengeS

• Data collectedthrough censusand surveys isinconsistent andinaccurate andcannot be sharedamong departmentsdue to variationsin parameters,tables, formats,years, levels etc.

• Redundancy ofwork as 50% ofdata has to beentered annually

• Excessive fundingrequired formanual preparationof SPs and SPAsthrough outsourcedprivate agencies

• Rectification of inconsistent, duplicate,erroneous spatial and non-spatial datareceived from different sources and theirintegration.

BenefItS of dePloyMent

• Integrated SPIDER & e-MANCHITRAGeo Portals has made it possible to reflectthe changes in SPIDER, simultaneouslyby e-MANCHITRA through thematicmaps.

• Reduced inconsistency, inaccuracy,variations in formats and improvedinteroperability, reliability, andvisualization of data

• Three way data visualization in tables,maps and charts

• Easy interface to study socio-economicdisparities and strengthen decentralizedplanning and decision making

• Empowered citizen and peopleparticipation in planning and decisionmaking process

For Further Information:Dr. L. R .Yadav


E-mail : [email protected]

Sectors and Agriculture related tables in Sankhyikiya Patrika

e-MANCHITRA Geo Portal Home Page




The UT Administrations of Daman & Diu,and Dadar & Nagar Haveli providevarious services to the citizens in timebound manner. The administration hasprepared a Citizen Charter defining thetime limit for the selected 60+ servicesfrom various departments such asElectricity, VAT, Transport, Excise,Revenue etc. All the services are requiredto be delivered as per the Citizen Charter.In order to track and monitor theprogress of the services, and removeinherent deficiencies and bottlenecks, anICT based approach has been used by theadministrative officers in form of ‘SamaySudhini Sewa’ (SSS).

The major aim of the initiative was toequip the administrative officers andhigher authorities with web based toolsto track the applications received forthese time bound services and monitorthe timely disposal of the applications.

eSLA-FRAMeWORKAfter a detailed study of the system andthe functionality required, it was decidedto adopt the framework of eSLA,(electronic Service Level Agreement)developed by NIC State Unit, NCT Delhi.eSLA is a comprehensive system designedand built around services. The back-end

processes of the services are alreadycomputerised and it provides various MISreports at different levels to monitor thedelivery/disposal of the applications.However, the scenario is a little differentin the UTs as the computerisation ofbackend processes is not complete for allthe selected services. It is at differentlevel, making it quite difficult andchallenging task to enter the applicationdetails into the eSLA system. As a resultthe eSLA framework had to becustomised for the two UTs and aseparate module was developed tocapture the application details into thesystem.

The customised version of the eSLAframework has been implemented for thetwo UTs.

SINGLe WINDOW IMPLeMeNTATIONThe administration established ‘SingleWindow Counter System’ at all thedepartments where the applications ofthe identified services are receivedthrough Single Window User Interface.The operator of Single Window receivesthe application from applicants andenters into the system. The systemgenerates receipt with a UniqueApplication Number. One copy of thereceipt is given to the applicant, whileanother copy is attached with the

UTPAL MEHTASr. Systems [email protected]

NITIN BAMANIAAddl. District

Informatics [email protected]

UT Administration ofDaman & Diu and Dadra& Nagar Haveli incollaboration withNational InformaticsCentre haveimplemented an onlineweb based MonitoringSystem for time boundservices known asSamay Sudhini Seva.

SAMAY SUDHINI SEVAOnline Monitoring of Time Bound Services



application. The application is now sentfor the processing. The processedapplication returns back to the SingleWindow operator with the deliverables, ifdisposed-off, otherwise with the reasonfor pendency/rejection. The status is alsocaptured in the system.

SALIeNT FeATUReSAll the users at various levels have beenprovided user credentials with differentuser rights. The user intended to capturethe application details enters applicationinto the system and generates receiptwith Unique Number. The applicant cantrack the status of the application onlineusing the combination of the UniqueApplication Number and the mobilenumber, provided earlier.

The system generates different MISreports for various levels of monitoring.The MIS reports highlight the number ofapplications received and disposed withinSLA and those disposed after the SLAperiod or delayed as per the SLA period.Based on the MIS reports, the seniorauthorities can then take appropriateactions against the erring officer/official.

All the users of the system have beenprovided secured access through VPN.

HOW IT WORKSThe application works in three differentlayers:

1. Data Capture/Application Management:The module has been developed inPHP/MySQL technology by NIC-Damancentre. It is hosted on Linux server and isaccessible through Internet. The SSSoperator captures the application detailsusing this module. This module coversextensive application management like

disposal, rejection, suspension andrevocation of the application usingvarious user rights at appropriate level. Ifany application needs to be kept insuspended state, it is not counted underthe SLA days. This module also coversthe online status display to the applicant.Applicant can access the websitehttp://daman.nic.in to see the status oftheir application.

2. Data Bridging: At the end of each day, this moduleaccumulates the applications entered intothe Data Capture module to the eSLA/SSSmonitoring module. The eSLA uses MS-SQL as backend database server. Thismodule uploads the application detailscaptured from the Data managementmodule to eSLA module.

3. Monitoring: This module processes the applicationdetails and generates various MIS reportsas per the requirement.

ADVANTAGeSThe pendency of the application has

reduced considerably due to regularmonitoring by the administrativeauthorities.

The applicant can see the status of theirapplication online using the UniqueApplication Number.

The whole application development uses hybrid environment likePHP/MySQL/MS-SQL/.NET.

IMPACTSamay Sudhini Sewa was inaugurated bythe Hon’ble Administrator of Daman Diuand Dadra Nagar Haveli in the presenceof Hon’ble Member of Parliament, DistrictPanchayat Presidents, MunicipalPresidents and other publicrepresentatives on 7th May, 2013. Theeffort was highly appreciated by theAdministrator and other dignitaries.

At present, the system has beenimplemented in 10 departments covering60 services across both the UTs and manyother services are in pipeline. Theapplication is also being replicated in Diudistrict.

The success of the project can be gaugedwith the improvement in disposal rate ofthe applications and reduction inpendency levels. NIC, Daman and Diu isin process of integration of SMS gatewaywith the application and very soon, theapplicants will be kept well informed ofevery activity regarding theirapplications.

For Further Information:Utpal Mehta

Sr. Systems Analyst,

NIC, Daman & Diu




NEET-UG – National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Under Graduates


Pursuant to the notification published inthe Gazette of India Extraordinary dated21st December, 2010, the Medical Councilof India, with the approval of the CentralGovernment amended the regulations onGraduate Medical Education 1997 andmade provisions for a Single Eligibilitycum Entrance Examination, namely,National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) for admission to MBBS courses ineach academic year.

The Dental Council of India also amendedthe BDS Course Regulations 2007 and notified in the Gazette of IndiaExtraordinary dated 31st May, 2012 thatadmission to BDS courses in eachacademic year shall be through NationalEligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Accordingly, the CBSE in collaborationwith NIC has conducted the NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test foradmission to MBBS and BDS courses.

In order to conduct NEET, a web basedapplication (http://cbseneet.nic.in) wasdeveloped by NIC, which facilitates thefollowing:

• Online applying by candidates

• Printing bank e-Challan for depositingfee in banks across India

• Paying the examination fee throughElectronic Payment Gateway usingcredit/debit cards

• Post Office e-Challan for depositing feein Post Offices across India

• Checking application status

• Online correction in filled particulars

• Downloading Admit Card

Apart from this, information on variousnotices, facilitation centres, informationat a glance, RTI, useful links and contactinformation have been provided on thewebsite. The result of the NEET will bepublished on the http://results.nic.in

MANOJ SAXENASenior Systems [email protected]

MEGHA GUPTAScientific/Technical [email protected]

SACHIN PRABHAKARScientific Officer/Engineer-SB

[email protected]

The Medical Council of India andthe Dental Council of India havenotified that the Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)shall be the organization toconduct the National Eligibilitycum Entrance Test for admissionto MBBS and BDS courses. CBSE,in technical collaboration withNIC, has conducted the NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test foradmissions to MBBS and BDScourses, for the first time inacademic session 2013-14 onsunday, the 5th May 2013.

Home Page of NEET-UG



website with a link on the NEET website.The website provides information aboutlatest news, important dates, downloadand help.

Overview Of NeeT-UG

NEET-UG is a web application for the

candidates, who wishto appear for theentranceexaminationenabling them to getadmission inMBBS/BDS, withmodules as perdetails given in thetable.

CUrreNT STaTUS

NEET-UGexamination hasbeen succesfullyconducted for thefirst time in thecountry by CBSE intechnicalcollaboration withNIC. The process wasstarted in December,2012 and around 8lakh onlineapplications have

been submitted and around 7.5 lakhadmit cards have been downloaded. TheNEET-UG exam was conducted on05/05/2013 for the whole country exceptfor Karnataka, due to assembly elections.The examination in Karnataka has beenconducted on 18/05/2013. Besides,

supplementary NEET-UG exam in Urduhas been conducted on 26/05/2013.

TeChNOlOGy adOpTed

NEET-UG has been developed withWindows Server 2008 as OperatingSystem, MS SQL Server 2008 Enterpriseas Database, Internet Information Serveras Web Server and .NET framework 4.0as a development tool. Deploymentarchitecture of the same has beenadopted with Disaster RecoveryArchitecture.

impaCT

The NEET-UG was conducted for the firsttime in our country this year. It's successand popularity has boosted up theconfidence level of both CBSE and NIC,and has become a motivational factor fordeveloping more technology solutions forconducting various entranceexaminations efficiently.

For Further Information:Sunil Kumar



Module Functionality

Apply Online Interface for aspirants of MBBS/BDS who can submit an on-line application form giving personal details including the option for mode of examination in 6 regional languages in addition to Hindi, English and Urdu and option for All India Quota Merit, 3 states of domicile, AFMC and Private Medical Colleges. Also, they can opt 3 examination centers as per their order.

Print Bank e-Challan Interface for downloading and printing e-Challan for depositing fee in banks and post offices across India

Pay the Examination Fee Interface for submitting fee deposition details or submitting fee through Electronic Payment Gateway from debit/credit cards

Re-print Confirmation Page Interface for re-printing the confirmation page in case the confirmation page generated by aspirants has been misplaced/lost

Forgot Registration Number Interface for displaying authentication based registration no. if aspirant has forgot the same

Print Address Slip Interface for generating candidates’ address slips which are to be utilized for posting the confirmation page to CBSE; duly signed, with thumb impressions along with their photographs

Application Status Interface for checking their physically received application in CBSE. This data is updated periodically as lots of applications are received by CBSE.

Online Correction in Pariculars Interface for one time correction in personal information submitted during on-line application submission

Reprint Online Correction Slip Interface for generating correction slip, if correction is made in particulars.

Download Admit Card Interface for downloading Admit Cards before appearing in the NEET-UG examination

Important Proforma with Post Card size Photograph to be handed over to the invigilator

Interface for downloading format for submitting an additional postcard size photograph of the candidate in the examination hall

Deployment Architecture for NEET-UG


From the States/UTs

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDSDigitally Bridging the Nautical Seclusion

Edited by R. Gayatri

NIC Lakshadweep UT centre, since itsinception in 1988 has been extending ICTservices to the territory with utmostefficiency and commitment. Due togeographical isolation of the territoryfrom the mainland and within thedetached islets, ICT governance tools,infrastructure and the fleet of onlineapplications has become the lifeline ofthe territory. UTL is a model of ‘effectivedigital bridging of geographicalisolations through Web/SWAN enabledMIS’.

Some of the very successful services arelisted below.

1. Lakshadweep swaNConnecting the inhabited islands, whichare spread across the Arabian Sea undera single network, was one of the toughesttasks set ahead for NIC Lakshadweep. Thedesigning of State Wide Area Networkwas done with the assistance oftechnology experts from NetworkDivision of NIC HQ. With the support ofAdministration of UTL, the verticalnetwork connecting all the 10 inhabitedislands including the least populatedBitra, was built within a span of 1 year.The Administrative Headquarters,Kavaratti is designated as StateHeadquarters with 8 Mbps backboneconnectivity and islands (DHQ) with 2MBPS. There is no Block Headquarter(BHQ) level in LSWAN. LSWAN wasinaugurated on 24th December 2009 bythen Honb’le President of India Smt.Pratiba Devi Singh Patil.

Today, LSWAN has become the onlysource of connectivity for variousGovernment Departments as well as Non-Governmental organizations ofLakshadweep. Three years afterinauguration, NIC Lakshadweep was able

to connect more than 450 Officesincluding schools, anganvadis, healthcentres, hospitals, Common ServiceCentres, Police Stations, Harbour Works,Port Offices etc., which are spread across

The Union Territory ofLakshadweep (UTL) isgeographically dispersed inthe Arabian Sea with itscapital at Kavaratti. It hasachieved enormous successin deliverance of ICTservices to its citizensdespite its geographicalisolation and bandwidthinsufficiency, using thereliable and efficientinfrastructure, trainingmethods and positiveapproach of the UTadministration.

BASHEER AHAMMED P.K.State Informatics [email protected]

SUMAN BABU DSr. Systems Analyst

[email protected]

“I am glad that the State Wide AreaNetwork known as SWAN has beenimplemented in the islands to provideconnectivity between the variousGovernment Departments. It will be aplatform for e-Governance and otherIT enabled services. Even moresignificant would be SWAN's ability ofensuring a communication channel fordisaster management, in case suchneeds arise. I am sure that as thisProject begins operation today, it shallhelp in the improvement of education,health awareness, providinginformation about the weather,entertainment and news deliveryservices. I am, therefore, happy to beinaugurating the SWAN Project. I hopethat as the bandwidth is increased,internet facilities will be extended tothe people for their business andpersonal use”.

The Excerpts of her ExcellencySmt. PRATIBA DEVI SINGH PATIL’S

Speech


From the States/UTs

10 islands. VC and IP phone facility hasbeen established in SDO offices of all theislands over the LSWAN. Internet is alsoprovided in LSWAN by NIC.

With more than 85% of averagebandwidth utilization, LSWAN proved tobe the most successful SWANimplemented across the nation.

2. websTaR - ship TickeT advaNce

ReseRvaTioN sysTem Shipping is the lifeline of the people ofLakshadweep and all the thirteen PortOffices of the administration have beeninterconnected under PORTNET,extending the NICNET and also throughLSWAN. This network has enabled theWeb-based Ship Ticket PassengerReservation and Cargo Booking Systems.

With this system, ship tickets in“anywhere to anywhere” basis can bereserved from any of the counters set upin islands and the mainland. The shipschedule, seats availability, ticket status,fare, passenger list etc. are available tothe public through Internet. SMS alertsand information Kiosks. The websitewww.lakport.nic.in received 4,78,363 hitsduring the year 2012.

3. biLLiNg & coNsumeR maNagemeNT

sysTem (e-bcms)e-BCMS is a web-enabled system for totalmanagement of Consumer ServiceConnections in Lakshadweep ElectricityDepartment (LED). This is a G2C, G2Gapplication seamlessly operational sinceJuly 2007 for the Department ofElectricity. It is a work-flow based MIS,systematizing the total functionalitiesand business processes with regards to aConsumer Service Connection from itsconnection request point to

disconnection/deactivation. Majorprocesses include Consumer Registration,Service Connection Establishment,Service Connection Maintenance &Management, Meter Management,Monthly and periodical ConsumerBilling, Service Connection FaultManagement and ConsumerDisconnection/Deactivation.

e-BCMS has the following web-enabledinteractions:-

• Consumer Registration & ManagementSystem (G2G)

• Energy Billing (Bill Generations & Cashcollection) (G2G & G2C)

• Complaint/Fault Management System(G2G & G2C)

• Consumer Facilitations Window Online(Consumer Login- G2C)

All the consumers in Lakshadweep arecovered under the application. All the 9major sub-divisions and 4 minor sub-

divisions are connected to the systemsince 2007.

4. oNLiNe schoLaRship sysTemThe Administration of UT Lakshadweep isproviding scholarships to all the studentsgoing for higher studies from the islandsto various parts of the country,irrespective of income, merit etc.Students are reimbursed all educationalexpenses based on the institution’s bills.A Unique Student ID is created at thetime of new registration for the students.

The key modules of the system arestudent registration, claim processing, billgeneration and disbursement. All theregistered students are provided access tothe system with login and password toknow the status of their claims and otherinformation.

5. pLaNmis veR 2.0Plan Monitoring Information Systemversion 2.0 is a web based application forthe Planning and Statistics Department.Main objective of the application is togenerate sector-wise, MonthlyExpenditure Report of schemes. The userdepartments of respective schemes andsectors enter the financial and physicalprogress for a month. Scheme-wise andsector-wise monthly MIS reports can begenerated by Planning Department,whereas scheme-wise reports of aparticular department can be generatedby the respective department.


From the States/UTs

6. poweR geNeRaTioN & disTRibuTioN

maNagemeNT sysTemPower Generation & DistributionManagement System is a web enabledapplication to monitor the operations ofDiesel Powerhouses & Solar Power Plantsin Lakshadweep for ElectricityDepartment. The main objective of theworkflow based application is to monitorthe operations of powerhouses & SPVpower plants, in various islands, besideschecking the efficiency of dieselgenerators, total hours of operation ofdiesel generators, peak demands & hoursin various islands, generatormaintenance, track down defectivegenerators alert etc. Alerts are sent tosenior officers when generators are down.

7. vsaT based video coNfeReNciNg

seRvices The VSAT based NICNET was establishedfrom the date of inception of NIC inLakshadweep (1988) by installing andoperationalization of C-200 VSAT atKavaratti. Then gradually, NICNET hasbeen extended to NIC at LakshadweepAdministration Office in WillingtonIsland, Kochi and Minicoy during 1990-91. Considering the isolation and verypoor communication facility, NICNETservice with C-200 was extended to theremaining islands- Andrott, Kadmat,Kalpeni and Chetlat with technicalmanpower of NIC, during 1993-94.These VSAT based NICNET service playeda crucial role during ParliamentaryElections and during Monsoon season(May 15 to September 15). Today, around43 VSATs are under operation in officesof the Electricity, Port, and RevenueDepartments.

VC studios have been setup in Kavaratti,

Minicoy and Kochi. All the inhabitedislands are provided with videoconferencing devices by theAdministration of UTL. During 2012-13more than 300 Lakshadweep-centricvideo conferencing sessions wereconducted over SWAN and NICNET.

8. iNTegRaTed sysTem foR

pRocuRemeNT, iNveNToRy, despaTch &

disTRibuTioN of maTeRiaLsAll materials for Lakshadweep areprocured from mainland, stored in therespective stores of departments and thendispatched to various stores on theislands by available conveyance.

The application system keeps track notonly of the inventory of materials but theoverall management of the activitiesfrom purchase to disbursement in aworkflow model. The majorfunctionalities of the system are: supplyorder generation, distribution list, itemreceipt, stock transfer, packing, despatch,items tracking, indent, damagemanagement, work estimation, billing ,MIS reports generation etc.

The system was successfully implemented

at Department of Electricity and is beingimplemented at Department of Fisheriesand Port.

9. e-peRmiT sysTemLakshadweep being a strategic area underthe Union of India, the entry to theislands is restricted and the UTLGovernment is issuing entry permits tothose who wish to visit Lakshadweepbased on the act “The Laccadive Minicoy& Amindivi Islands (Restrictions on Entryand Residence) Rules, 1967”.

e-Permit System is operational since2008. The functionalities under thissystem are application registrations,Police verification, permit generation,island reporting, island exit, renewal etc.Logins are provided to Police Stations inall islands of Lakshadweep to capture theisland reporting and exiting details ofpermit holders. The ADM/SDO/ASDOsalso access the system to makeendorsements such as extension/renewalof permits, permitting additional islandsetc. The key features of the system are:online status of permit, tracking of permitholders, pending list, list of over stayers,permit register & profession wise breakup and generation of statistical reportsetc.

10. compuTeRizaTioN of pubLic

disTRibuTioN sysTemComputerization of Public DistributionSystem was initiated in March 2012.Lakshadweep has been chosen as one ofthe pilot state for PDS computerization.

Digitization of Existing RCs: Datacollection and digitization of existingRation Cards were entrusted with VLEs(Village Level Entrepreneurs) by UTAdministration. ERCMS (Existing Ration


From the States/UTs

Card Management System) applicationhas been used for capturing RC data. Asthe existing Ration Card holds veryminimal details, data collection exercisewas carried out to capture maximuminformation possible from households.Collection and updating of bank accountdetails of beneficiaries were also taken upfor facilitating Direct Cash Transfer. Bankdetails of more than 85 per cent ofbeneficiaries are already seeded intodatabase and the process of seeding UIDwill be started soon.

11. seaT aLLoTmeNT sofTwaRe The application is developed forDepartment of Education for allotment ofseats for higher education in mainlandinstitutions. As there are no institutionsfor pursuing higher studies after schooleducation, MHRD has reserved seats infew mainland colleges for various coursessuch as post-metric diploma and ITIcourses, graduation in different streamsincluding professional courses and post-graduation. UT Administration hasbrought out its own seat allotment ruleskeeping compliance with merit criteria ofrespective universities/institutions, toensure a fair allotment process for nativestudents and also wards of employeesfrom mainland serving LakshadweepAdministration.

12. LaNd RecoRdsA web based application (Land RecordsInformation System) has been developedwherein the Record of Right or RoR canbe generated. Other reports like LandRegister Extract, Fair Area List, IslandWise Land Holdings, Owner wiseHoldings, Land Type wise Holdings, Listof all landowners, Missing SurveyNumbers etc. can also be generated.Integration with the online software forRegistration & CollabLand software isalso in progress. The software isimplemented in all the 10 RevenueSubdivisions of Lakshadweep.

13. NadRs State Level launching of NADRS wasdone on 06th Feb 2013 by Shri V.C.Pandey, IAS, MD (LDCL) and Secretary(Animal Husbandry) Lakshadweep. Allthe Animal Husbandry Units includingState/UT Directorate and Liaising Officeat Kochi and Animal HusbandryHospitals in islands (Bitra to Minicoy)

could be virtually connected bysuccessfully establishing the NADRSBlock level network. NADRS helped inonline reporting of the diseases alongwith keeping the record of disease casesof various veterinary centres of eachisland and monitoring of these diseasecases from the State Project MonitoringUnit (SPMU) at Kavaratti.

Training was conducted through VC forthe remote locations. The lecture onvarious goat diseases by the scientists ofCentral Institute for Research on Goats,Lucknow was extended through VC onNICNET with active coordination by ShriM. Moni, former DG NIC.

14. e-mpeda (maRiNe pRoducT expoRT

deveLopmeNT ageNcy)MPEDA is an autonomous body set upfor the promotion of exports of seafoodfrom the country. The Head Quarters ofMPEDA is located at Kochi in the state ofKerala.

The project involves the re-engineeringof various activities and developmentand implementation of onlineapplications. The following areas areidentified and NIC Lakshadweep Unit,Kochi is executing the project:

• Registration Management System

• Subsidy Management System

• NRCP Monitoring System (e-NRCP)

• Personal, Payroll and GPF System

• Pension System

• Financial Management System

• Asset Management System

• Plant Survey

• Online Farm Survey

• RCMC System

• Registration System for Aqua farms,Hatcheries & Feed mills

• Online PHT System

15. Lakshadweep gRievaNce

maNagemeNT sysTem(Lgms)Lakshadweep Grievance ManagementSystem is a web based online publicgrievance redressal mechanism whichaims to bring in transparency andaccountability in offering governmentservices. With the introduction of LGMS,the administration is able to track, searchand redress complaints in a moreeffective way. The key features of theproject are:

n Complaint Registration throughhelpline

Launch of NADRS


From the States/UTs

n Integration of Common Service Centresfor citizen interface

n Designated Public Grievance Officers inall departments

n Department wise, category wise reports,pendency reports and other MIS

16. oNLiNe TapaL maNagemeNT sysTem-

depTaRTmeNT of eLecTRiciTyAs a part of implementing effective e-governance applications for speedytransactions in offering governmentservices, NIC Lakshadweep Islandsdesigned and developed Online TapalManagement System for Department ofElectricity. The system is designed todigitally archive the tapals received in thedepartment, send it for officer’s perusal,mark the comments online, send thetapals to the employee concerned,acknowledge the received tapals and tomove the processed tapals to respectivefile for processing. The system has admincontrolled role menus, workflow based

application design and various pendencyand MIS reports. The system is seamlesslyworking in Department of Electricity forthe last 3 years.

17. JeevaNRekhaJeevanrekha is an online application thatdeals with the registration of birth, stillbirth and death events. The application iscompletely developed using open sourcetechnologies and has a workflow model.The application is seamlessly runningand is used by Department of HealthDervices from 2011 onwards. Theapplication offers local language supportand certificates are issued in bilingualformat.

In addition to the above projects, SchoolNet, EverAlerts,BUDGETMIS,Payroll and Lakshadweepofficial website are developed andmaintained by NIC Lakshadweep.

In addition to the above projects NIC,Lakshadweep is implementing manyCentral projects like MGNREGA, IAY –

MIS, VAHAN ,SARATHI, e-Lekha,COMPACT,CDDO2PAO, ReAlCraft, e-Courts etc.

accoLades• CSI Nihilent Award –Department ofElectricity bagged the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance award 2006-07 for the Beste-Governed Department

• Microsoft Award - The WebSTARproject has received the “Award forInnovative Project” in the Microsoft e-Governance Awards 2006

• Manthan Award - Manthan Award in2007

For Further Information: Basheer Ahammed P.K.

State Informatics Officer,

National Informatics Center,

Lakshadweep



From the States/UTs

RAJASTHANCelebrating Twenty Five Glorious Years

Edited By Vivek Verma

The Journey of 25 years

NIC Rajasthan’s journey towardsexcellence has been very exciting and fullof challenges. Beginning from a verysmall room of 180 sq ft in the ChiefMinister’s office at Secretariat Jaipur,with a staff of four in 1988, NICRajasthan has grown many folds and hasreached out to the remote parts of thestate. NICNET, starting from 256/512Kbps VSAT network is now providingGbps/Mbps connectivity to over 300locations like the District Collectorates,Post Offices, Ministry offices,Government Buildings, universities,colleges, tehsils and various parts of thestate. Apart from this a large number ofoffices are provided with connectivity toNICNET with VPN over broadband.

There are many successful projects thathave been implemented during the past25 years. Using NICNET for the electionresults telecast with Doordarshan and thesupport provided by the NIC district

centres in the computerization of electionactivities was the first major milestone.Now, the election process and systemsdeveloped by NIC are almost integrated.Rajasthan achieved new heights ininnovative use of software which wonseveral accolades nationally andinternationally.

First time, the Primary Census Abstract,Population Census 1991 was released ina short period of one and half year in1991. Computerization of treasurieswithin a short span of time was also areckoning moment. Monitoring of therevenue campaigns for the CM’s office inthe 90’s using software demonstrated thecapability of NICNET when the weeklyfield level figure were available on thefourth day from the camps at villages,since then it has become a regularmonitoring mechanism.

It was computerization of Land Records,which made NIC realize the giganticefforts required to build IT enabledsystems in government. It appeared to be

NIC Rajasthan iscelebrating silver jubilee ofits establishment this year.The celebrations havestarted and the longjourney with ups anddowns has been quitefruitful. Today with theefforts of team NIC, thestate of Rajasthan issurging ahead as a leaderin e-Governance and ICTdevelopment, covering awide gamut of applicationsas an ever important assetand resource ofGovernmentadministration. Today, it hasa staff of 77 in Jaipur and atotal staff of 134 inRajasthan.

INDU GUPTAState Informatics Officer & [email protected]

Hon’ble MoS Shri Narayansamy and Hon’ble CM Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlotreleasing the NIC Rajasthan Silver Jubilee logo at the NIC stall at the NCEG 2013


From the States/UTs

an impossible situation and whole of“NIC Rajasthan” was converted to “NICLand Records”. But the efforts payed ofand the landmark in the history ofRevenue Department has been realized.Because of the unabated confidence inNIC put fotrh by the Revenue Minister,Revenue Department and ChairmanBoard of Revenue that in 2003 Rajasthanbecame the first state to place the entirestate’s LR data on the Internet andestablished Apna Khata Kendra (kiosks).Similarly, Rajasthan was the first state todeclare Board of Secondary Educationresults on NICNET and provided it to theschools in remote areas on the same day.It was the first direct interaction withyouth of the state which introducedsudden peaks of load on server resources.

Video Conference facilities in the statewere established using high speed Ku-band VSATs way back in 1995, whichwas inaugurated by then Hon’ble DeputyChairman, Planning Commission ShriPranab Mukharjee. NIC introduced emailand Internet as an alternate mode ofcommunication among the exporters inthe state using Ku-Band network. FirstVideo Conference was conducted inSMART Governance conference at BirlaAuditorium, Jaipur between the ChiefSecretary and Director General NIC,which left all audiences mesmerized.Processing and release of BPL census2002 data on the Internet and buildingapplication for its online updation, wasfirst of its kind in India. The most recentmilestone was proof of concept of rural

connectivity in ten Gram Panchayats inAjmer district which made its marknationally as well as internationally.SUGAM for grievances redressal andservice delivery for nearly 30 serviceswas rolled out in six months time.Integrated Finance Management System(IFMS), EGRAS, Old age Pension, NSAP,SSA, Pre Teacher Entrance TestCounseling or PTET, AIEEE Counseling,Medical & Health, Education, Mid DayMeal Monitoring System (MDM), OnlineAnswering System for RajasthanAssembly or OASYS, Pregnancy, ChildTracking & Health Services ManagementSystem or PCTS, etc. have all played theirimportant role in shaping the e-Governance regime in the state ofRajasthan.

Rajasthan High Court of Judicature,though started late in 1995 on the path

of computerization, became one of theleading high courts to deploy IT solutionsin each section. Today the litigants,lawyers, students, citizens all benefitfrom these systems. Some novelexperiments like setting up of querycounters, cause list, Judgments, interimorders on Internet, integration with SMSgateway, Display boards have proved tobe the path-breakers.

NIC State Unit Rajasthan has witnessedpositive change and a proactive approachunder the guidance of the Hon’ble ChiefMinister Shri Ashok Gahlot and the ChiefSecretary Shri C.K. Mathew for processre-engineering and introduction of astrong Feedback Monitoring System byfrequent meetings with the fieldfunctionaries through videoconferencing. Rajasthan is among theforemost states in utilizing the VCservices to the full extent. The systemshave been established for day to daymonitoring of special administrativecampaigns to reach out to the citizens,aptly supported by software systems toallow daily flow of information such thatcommon figures are available across thegovernment from the highest office to thelowest field units. Such systems havepaved the way for seamless integrationbetween policy making administrationand IT support systems.

evenTs marking The celebraTion of

silver Jubilee year

Year 2013-2014 is very important for NICRajasthan State Unit and many activitieshave been planned to mark the occasion.It started with the release of logo by theHon’ble Chief Minister and the Union

Hon’ble CM Rajasthan and Chief Secretary Rajasthan Shri C.K. Mathew duringthe inauguration of online Jamabandi

Shri Namo Narayan Meena, Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, GOI ShriRajendra Pareekh, Minister for Industry, GOR and Shri C.K. Mathew inauguratingIFMS in Banker’s Meet


From the States/UTs

Minister of the State at Jaipur. Otherevents that will continue are: sportingevents, slogan competition, get-togethers,felicitation programmes, lectures,seminars and other activities. There areplans to release a special document onNIC Rajasthan achievements on theoccasion.

some Proud momenTs

When Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri AshokGehlot walked into NIC office on aholiday in 1999 and discussed variousactivities undertaken by NIC, theguidance and appreciation from thehighest quarters of the State Governmenthas been a great morale booster for theteam NIC.

A remarkable moment came when the

former Chief Minister Smt. VasundharaRaje gave an opportunity to give apresentation of e-GRAM project, a uniquedata base of all the basic amenities ineach village, at the Ministers’ conferenceat CMO at a very short notice and herselfexplained some points.

NIC Rajasthan established immigrationsystem at Munabao Railway station inBarmer, near Pakistan border, which isa remote place in the desert. It was achilling experience working there late inthe nights with no human populationaround.

The VC session of NIC Rajasthan with theUS President Mr Barack Obama and ShriSam Pitroda from Kanpura (Ajmer) in the

presence of the then Hon’ble Minister ofCommunications and InformationTechnology, Shri Sachin Pilot was amemorable event for NIC Rajasthan.

NIC Rajasthan won two National e-Governance Awards at Bhubhneshwar atthe same time for Pregnancy, ChildTracking & Health Services ManagementSystem or PCTS and OASYS projects. Theawards and accolades given to NICRajasthan especially Manthan AwardSouth Asia for e-Gram, are always specialand cherished.

fuTure Plans

Some of the key projects which would berolled out shortly are: Electronic RecordRooms for the Revenue Department,Digitization of the maps, Online Real

Hon’ble Governor, Hon’ble Speaker and Hon’ble Chief Minister releasing OnlineApplication for the Un-edited Proceedings of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

Shri T.V. Ramnan, Chief Secretary releasing PCA Data in 1992

Hon’ble Chief Minister, Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot interacting with NIC Officialin his earlier tenure


From the States/UTs

Time Revenue Records, MobileApplications, Procurement Portal,Electronic Benefit Transfer, ElectronicGovernment Receipts, Data Mining, OpenData Portals, Right to Education Portaletc. The key focus will be on integratingthe accumulated data with decisionmaking and policy planning. NIC

Rajasthan has deployed GIS tools foreducation data to assist in identifyingnew school locations. Most of theapplications have been built in locallanguage and will be ready with bilingualdata sets.

NIC Rajasthan is highly indebted to thesupport and confidence extended by the

Rajasthan Government. The focal pointof the next version of governance iscitizens, quality and availability ofservice- anytime anywhere, sharing ofdata across stakeholders and acrossvarious platforms, data mining andanalytics. NIC Rajasthan is constantlymoving ahead to embrace newtechnologies like mobile technology,cloud computing, virtualization andnationally taking lead in several areaslike Medical-Health, Finance, Publicdistribution system, Courts, LegislativeAssembly , Education etc to name a few.We know that the road ahead is full ofchallenges, lots of efforts are required butthe successes and failures, struggle andchallenges have given us the confidenceto surge ahead and explore new frontiersin e-Governance in tandem with the statepolicies.

For Further Information:Ms. Indu Gupta

State Informatics Officer

NIC Jaipur, Rajasthan

E-mail: [email protected] Hon'ble Shri Sachin Pilot, Former Union Minister for IT & Communication


Technology Update

OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE – An Emerging World of Opportunities

Edited by Vivek Verma

Many people in this world often havegood ideas and some execute them toreality but others are not lucky enoughto give their ideas a definitive shape.Though there is no data to prove thisratio of unfinished to finished ideas, butit is fairly high. Due to increasing trendin the publishing of information onInternet, the information is madeavailable for R&D and used by others(individuals/companies) to convert ideasinto reality. The benefits are tremendousfor all countries, particularly fordeveloping countries that lack in R&Dactivities, expertise, education and

finances but with abundant availabilityof cheap labor, can reap the benefits tobridge the technological, educational andcultural gaps.

Open Source hardware is based onpublishing of all necessary data abouthardware. It also incorporates designspecifications, Hardware DefinitionLanguage (HDL) files, simulations, TestBenches, Synthesis Results, utilizationinstructions and interfaces to othersystems etc. and emerging views onopeness of necessary designdocumentation and its disclosure to thepublic on the pattern of terms of GPLlike licenses.

The IT world is witnessingphenomena of a kind due to massiveavailability of open source software,which has become an important partof software development process andhas given people a wide range ofchoices and benefits. On parallellines, the same is beingconceptualized in hardware fieldalso, not as an idea but as a reality.Free Open Source hardware (OSH) isrelatively a new concept emerging inthe world and internet is aiding in itsvast spread across the trans-nationalboundaries. Chris Anderson in hisbook ‘Free the future of Radical Price’has predicted that hardware is thenext natural extension of the opensource movement. He further writesthat we are very familiar with theconcept of open source software butthe new idea of extending that tohardware – from circuit boards allthe way up to consumer gadgets, likeGoogle’s Android phone, is justemerging.

MUKESH KUMARRALLITechnical [email protected]


Technology Update

There is a budding community ofcompanies, individuals, and groups thatare actively involved in designing andcreating open-source hardware. Somewell-known examples include theArduino Boards (a microcontrollerdevelopment platform), Chumby (a Wifidevice), MakerBot Replicator (a 3Dprinter), OpenFlow (easy deploying ofinnovative routing and switchingprotocols in a network).

On March 2011, CERN released the OpenHardware License (OHL) or CERN-OHL,which specifies the terms and conditionsfor using, copying, modifying anddistributing open source hardware. Thedocument establishes legal frameworkthat will allow formal recognition andendorsement of open source hardware,while protecting intellectual propertyrights. The Open Hardware Repository(OHR) is the online venue whereengineers can collaborate and shareinformation in accordance with the OHL.

Problems & Challenges

High costs of EDA (Electronic DesignTools) and its affordability issue demandsdevelopment of low costing Open SourceEDA tools. There is progress in this butstill much more needs to be done.Alliance and gEDA are available for asOpen EDA tools but need continuousimprovements.

Hardware manufacturing cost isrelatively expensive & prohibitive.Therefore, there is need forimplementation on FPGA-basedprototyping boards or simulation of

designs using formal verificationtechniques.

There is need to have good GPL likelicenses to protect the open designs andreserve rights for original designers,according to particular terms and rulesbecause many scrupulous manufacturesplace no attribution and try to remove allthe identifying marks from their product.

Multi-nationals and big companies mayoppose aspects of open source becausethat will generate alternatives forcommercially protected products. Marketcompetition is mainly based on patentsand intellectual property that maintainsall rights for the originator firm.However, even these companies mighttake advantage of open source as a wayof bridging the gap for time and costsabsorbed in R&D and remain in win-winsituation because on one hand there willbe less investment in R&D and on theother hand end-result will be cutting-edged reliable products withaffordable prices.

Despite the challenges, there is anemerging consensus on the issue of opensource hardware. The open sourcehardware can produce a whole newgeneration of computers and internet.Computational engines might changefrom traditional architecture that arebased on software instructions, whichexecute on hardware resources intoalgorithm that further process hardwarefunctions, which load and unloaddynamically onto a programmable logicplatform.

The future might give rise to a newinternet service called ‘HardwareComputing Resource Protocol’ (HCRP)which would enable developers to designtheir algorithms, based on hardware core,and upload them on these machines thatrun and implement them. The opensource design, open sourcecomputational resources and globalnetworking has introduced a new era ofinnovative technologies and platform.

The development in this field has alreadybegun to reap the results in the form ofmany open source hardware projectsranging from computer systems &components, cameras, radio, telephony,science education, machines & tools,robotics, renewable energy, homeautomation, medical & biotech,automotive, prototyping, test equipments,and musical instruments. However, a lotmore efforts are required in this area onsimilar lines as has been the case withopen source software. It is on thegovernments of developing countries totake the call and wake up and gear forthe emerging opportunities in this field.

For Further Information:Mukesh K Ranni

Technical Director,

NIC Punjab State Centre

Chandigarh


We at Informatics constantly endeavor to make our efforts more ICT oriented and worthy. Welook forward towards your encouraging feedback and suggestions to improve the content andfeel of Informatics. Readers can send their suggestions/articles at the following address: Editor-in-ChiefRoom No.-375, 3rd Floor, NIC-HQ

A-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,

New Delhi- 110003



Technology Update

The Importance of Standards andits Use in Healthcare

Edited by Rubaiyat Ali

The health-care environment hastraditionally consisted of a set of loosely-connected, organizationally-independentunits. Patients receive care across primary(first level of contact such as PrimaryHealth Centres, PHCs), secondary (firstreferral level such as district hospitals), andtertiary (medical colleges and advancedmedical research institutes) care settings,with little bi-directional communicationand coordination among these services.There is also little coordination and sharingof clinical data between in-patient careand out-patient care.

The answer to this low level of interactionis the implementation of Health-ITStandards. Health-IT standards provide thefoundation for institutional data sharingwith disparate healthcare systems andintegration of this clinical data withdiagnostic equipment such as CT scan,USG, Auto analyzer, etc. We examine thedifferent functional aspects of the Health-IT Standards.

InteroperabIlItyInteroperability is the ability of two ormore systems or components tointerchange information and usepredictably the information that has beenexchanged.

CategorIzatIon of InteroperabIlIty

technical InteroperabilityIt is the ability to move data from systemA to system B and vice versa. It defines thedegree to which the information can besuccessfully "transported" between thesystems.

Semantic InteroperabilityThis ensures that both systems understandthe data in the same way. The sentinformation remains unaltered in itsmeaning.

process InteroperabilityIt enables business processes and

organizations like system A and system Bto work together. It defines the degree towhich the integrity of workflow processescan be maintained between the systems.This includes maintaining/conveyinginformation such as user roles betweensystems.

In order to realize clinical data sharing i.e.system interoperability among disparatehealthcare systems and integration withhealthcare devices, all Health InformationSystems have to adhere to the samestandards.

Today, there are various StandardsDevelopment Organizations (SDOs),Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and otherinitiatives to address the IT standards inhealthcare systems. ,

Some StandardS development

organIzatIonS (SdoS) and toolSHL7 (Health Level Seven) is a standard forsharing of clinical and administrative data.The main objective of HL7 is to providestandards for exchange, management andintegration of data that support clinicalpatient care and the management, deliveryand evaluation of healthcare services.Specifically, to create flexible, costeffective approaches, standards, guidelines,methodologies, and related services forinteroperability between HealthcareInformation Systems.

l HL7 Messages transfer electronic databetween disparate healthcare systems.Each HL7 message sends informationabout a particular event such as patientregistration, admission, discharge,physician order entry etc.

l HL7 v2.x Messages mostly uses atextual, non-XML encoding syntax basedon delimiters as exemplified in box.

l Order Message from HIS to external LIS/Auto Analyzer

l The HL7 version 3 messaging standarddefines a series of electronic messages(called interactions) to support all

Traditionally, the health-care environmentconsisted of a set ofloosely-connected,organizationally-independent units.Health-IT standardsprovide the foundationfor institutional datasharing with disparatehealthcare systems andintegration of thisclinical data withdiagnostic equipmentsuch as CT scan, USG,Auto analyzer, etc.

NILKAMAL DEYPURKAYASTHA

Scientific [email protected]

CHAITALIBHATTACHARJEEPrincipal Systems [email protected]


Technology Update

healthcare workflows. HL7 v3 messagesare based on an XML encoding syntax.

InternatIonal ClaSSIfICatIon of

dISeaSeS The International Classification of Diseases(ICD) is the standard diagnostic tool forepidemiology, health management andclinical purposes. This includes the analysisof the general health situation ofpopulation groups. It is used to monitor theincidence and prevalence of diseases andother health problems.

list of standard code provided by ICdICD-9 (Ninth Revision), ICD-10 (TenthRevision), ICD-9-CM (NinthRevision, Clinical Modification), ICD-10-CM (Tenth Revision, ClinicalModification), ICF (InternationalClassification of Functioning, Disabilityand Health), Classification of Deathand Injury Resulting from Terrorism

logICal obServatIon IdentIfIerS nameS

and CodeS (loInC)It is a universal coding system foridentifying laboratory and clinicalobservations. LOINC has standardizedterminology for all kind of observationsand measurements that enables exchangeand aggregation of electronic health datafrom many independent systems.

InternatIonal HealtH termInology

development organIzatIon (IHtSdo)IHTSDO is a not-for-profit association that

owns and maintains SNOMED CT(Systematized Nomenclature of MedicineClinical Terms). SNOMED CT is a clinicalhealthcare terminology, essential forelectronic health records, a terminologythat can cross-map to other internationalstandards.

dIgItal ImagIng and CommunICatIonS In

medICIne (dICom)DICOM is a specification and format forstoring medical images in a digital file. Itdefines a method of communicationamong various equipments of digitalmedical imaging devices/software(“modalities”). This standard is now in useby the majority of medical imaginghardware manufacturers.

InStItute of eleCtrICal and

eleCtronICS engIneerS Standard 1073IEEE 11073 Health informatics - Medical /health device communication standardsenable communication between medical,health care and wellness devices and withexternal computer systems.. They

1. provide real-time plug-and-playinteroperability for citizen-related medical,healthcare and wellness devices.

2. facilitate efficient exchange of caredevice data, acquired at the point-of-care,in all care environments.

unIfIed medICal language SyStem (uml)The UMLS, or Unified Medical LanguageSystem, is a set of files and software that

brings together many health andbiomedical vocabularies and standards toenable interoperability between computersystems.

medICal voCabularIeSMedical Vocabularies like ICD, SNOMED-CT, LOINC are the tools to standardizeinformation in order to capture, store,exchange, search and analyze data. Itreduces ambiguity that is inherent innormal human languages eg. heart attack,myocardial infarction, and MI may meanthe same to a physician, but have norelation to a computer, which can berepresented by one unique code i. e I21.0of ICD-10.

WHy HealtH It InteroperabIlIty IS

Important?1. Improve exchange of informationbetween Health IT systems

2. Make improved health decisions basedon complete clinical standard data

3. Superior healthcare for the patients

4. Reduce cost and complexity in order toprovide quality health care services

5. Enable future-ready solutions for healthcare

For Further Information:Nilkamal Dey Purkayastha,

Scientific Officer-SB,

NIC Tripura State Centre


order message from HIS to external lIS/ auto analyzer:MSH|^~\&|HIS|HIE|LIS|HIE|20060307110114||ORMÔ01|MSGID20060307110114|P|2.3

PID|||12001||SharmaÂnil^^^Mr.||19670824|M|||West Tripura.^^Kunjaban^CO^799006ÎNDIA|||||||PV1||O|OP^PAREG^||||2342^Sharma^Ram|||OP|||||||||2|||||||||||||||||||||||||20060307110111|

ORC|NW|20060307110114

OBR|1|20060307110114||003038Ûrinalysis^L|||20060307110114

response message from external lIS/ auto analyzer to HIS:MSH|^~\&|LIS|HIE|HIS|HIE|20060307110114||ORU^R01|MSGID20060307110114|P|2.3

PID|||12001||SharmaÂnil^^^Mr.||19670824|M|||WestTripura^^Kunjaban^CO^799006ÎNDIA|||||||PV1||O|OP^PAREG^||||2342^Sharma^Ram|||OP|||||||||2|||||||||||||||||||||||||20060307110111|

ORC|NW|20060307110114

OBR|1|20060307110114||003038Ûrinalysis^L|||20060307110114

OBX|1|NM|013060^Specific Gravity^L||1.010||1.005-1.030|||N|F|…

OBX|2|CE|013045Ûrine-Color^L||Y^Yellow^L||Y|||N|F|…

OBX|3|ST|013052Âppearance^L||Hazy||Clear|A||N|F|…


District Informatics

SEHORE:Heralding a Paradigm Shift in e-Governance Regime


NIC District Centre Sehore was establishedin year 1989 to serve the IT needs of districtadministration and to promote ICT cultureamong the government departments andcitizens through the method of activeparticipation and support. NIC Sehoreimplemented and developed manysuccessful e-Governance projects leading toparadigm shift in the entire governancestructure. Some major e-Governanceinitiatives in the district include -

AttendAnce And LeAve Monitoring

SySteM

The district administration entrusted NICwith the responsibility to design anddevelop a web based application for dailymonitoring of teachers attendance andleaves in the schools of Sehore. TheTeachers Attendance and Leave MonitoringSystem is an effective, efficient andtransparent system for monitoring of dailyteachers attendance and leave records. Thisapplication captures and monitors the dailyattendance of around 6000 teachers.Similarly, the Health Department is dailycapturing and monitoring the presence ofdoctors in health institutes.

e-SugAM

e-Sugam is a web-based solution formonitoring of public grievances anddepartmental letters. The districtadministration receives the letters andapplications as public grievances from

various sources like –

1. Hon’ble Chief Minister, Ministers andother public representatives

2. Application received during weekly “JanSunwai”

3. Public Grievances application receivedother than “Jan Sunwai”

4. Letters received from Governmentdepartments under “Time Limit Paper”category

A system has been developed andimplemented for efficient monitoring of allcategories of applications and letters onsingle platform. All the letters are enteredand electronically forwarded to theconcerned officers for redressal. Theapplication is in use by districtadministration as well as by 125 districtand block level offices.

LAnd recordS coMputerizAtion

The Bhu-Abhilekh and Bhu-Nakshaapplications of Government of MadhyaPradesh, to facilitate land records system inthe state, have been implemented in thedistrict Sehore. Bhu-Abhilekh comprises ofa computerized master database of landrecords that stores plot-wise and owner-wise details of land, crops, land type,tenancy etc. While Bhu-Naksha takes careof the spatial component of the landrecords.

SANJAY JOSHISenior Systems Analyst

[email protected]

Sehore lies in the foothills ofVindhyachal Range surroundedby of Malwa region in MadhyaPradesh. It is about 39 Kmsaway from the state capitalBhopal towards south andspread across 6578 Sq. Kms. Shaiva, Shakta, Jain, Vaishnav,Budhists and Nath priests madeSehore a significant seat oftheir deep meditation. Thedistrict is divided into 8 tehsils,5 sub-divisions and 1080villages with a population oflittle over 13.11 lakh. It has ahigh literacy rate of 72.1% andmore then 1800 schools areinvolved in imparting educationto the children of the district.

SHRI KAVINDRA KIYAWATIAS, Collector, [email protected]

Kissan Khet Pathshala, AgricultureOfficers in block level VC studios

Demonstration of e-Uparjan applicationto the Hon’ble Chief Minister of M.P.



In Sehore, a campaign was launched bydistrict administration to updatecomputerized land record data in timebound manner. NIC Sehore providedtechnical support in updation work. Itinstalled the Bhu-Abhilekh application on56 personal computers for data updation ofKhasra records and also implemented theBhu-Naksha application. The cadastralmaps were updated on the vector sheets asper updated current record, due to thisRevenue Department was able to providedigitized cadastral maps along with copy ofthe Record of Rights (ROR), Khatauni to thecitizens.

Efforts are also in progress for conversionof Patwari Basta into e-Basta in the districtto improve the citizen interface as well asthe efficiency of grass-root level employeesof land records.

e-upArjAn

e-Uparjan is an initiative of Department ofFood, Civil Supplies & Consumer Protectionto strengthen the procurement operationsunder MSP (Minimum Support Price) and todevelop real-time reporting mechanism atvarious levels, besides decision supportsystem for enhancing the forecasting,monitoring & tracking capabilities of theDepartment. The system also ensurestransparency along with development of aunified database of farmers of the state.

Lpg cyLinder diStribution Monitoring

SySteM

In order to bring transparency in the LPGdistribution system in the district, adatabase of Gas Agencies and customershas been prepared. Sehore has 11 GasAgencies and more than 91,000 regular gascustomers. These Gas Agencies have toenter their daily stock position i.e. numberof cylinders received, number of cylindersdistributed along with customer details andwaiting list position for gas distribution onthe application. Using this system, districtauthorities and citizens can monitor thestock position and distribution status withwaiting list over the web at any point oftime.

e-SAMwAd

e-Samwad (Desktop Video Conferencing System) is an electronicaudio-video interaction between district administration, block leveladministration, citizens, farmers andstudents. It is an initiative by Collector andDistrict Magistrate, Sehore Shri Kavindra

Kiwayat to provide a platform to theadministration and field level functionariesfor effective interaction & monitoring ofgovernment schemes up to the block level.

For effective use of desktop videoconferencing facility, the districtadministration has setup district and blocklevel video conferencing studios. Thedistrict level VC studio has a seatingcapacity of 35 officials while the block levelVC studio can accommodate around 100-125 participants. NIC, Sehore played a keyrole in establishment of VC studios in thedistrict and provided all technical supportfor smooth conduction of videoconferencing between district and blocks.NIC’s video conferencing portal has beenextensively used for this purpose. The e-Samvad facilitates the following activities-e-Jansunwai, e-JanVarta, e-Samiksha, e-Training, e-Kissan Khet Pathshala,e-Shiksha etc.

Since Aug 2012 till 31 December 2012,around 45 VC sessions (97 hours) have beenconducted and around 320 employees from district headquarter and 9310officers/employees/farmers/students haveparticipated in the VC sessions.

e-SchoLArShip

District Sehore was selected for pilotimplementation of state-level web basedapplication “e-Scholarship”. About 25,000online applications were received fromstudents of 24 government/private collegesof the district and scholarship have beendisbursed to student using the online portal.

other nAtionAL And StAte projectS

Many other national and state level projectshave been implemented in the district, right

up to the block level that have helped thedistrict administration in its quest towardse-Governance. MP Public ServiceGuarantee Act, BRISC MIS (Bank RecoveryIncentive Scheme), NADRS (NationalAnimal Disease Reporting System),PARAKH, Jan Sunwai MIS, Social &Economic Cost Census (SECC), Applicationfor "Jan Shruti Abhiyan" and “AntyodayaMela” are just a few from the exhaustive listof 30+ projects.

webSite deveLopMent

The official website of district Sehore hasbeen designed & maintained by the NICdistrict centre in coordination with thedistrict administration. It is a major sourceof information about Sehore for thecitizens. NIC Sehore is also providing thefacility to develop website for variousgovernment departments in the district.During last couple of years, websites of sixdepartments have been developed andhosted on NIC Server.

trAining And workShopS

NIC Sehore has conducted a spectrum ofneed based ICT training programmes fromtime to time besides organizing severalseminars & workshops. In the last threeyears, since January 2010, training has beenimparted to more than 840 Governmentofficials at various levels. The efforts of NICSehore have been continuously applaudedby the district administration.

For Further Information:Sanjay Joshi

District Informatics Officer, Sehore


District Collector Shri Kavindra Kiyawat in a VC session



ROHTAS:Empowering the Masses through e-Governance

Edited by Prashant Belawariar

NIC Rohtas District center has beenproviding ICT services to the districtadministration since 1989 – the year itwas established. Since then many e-governance projects have been rolled outbringing transparency and efficiency inthe administration thus providing timelyservices to the people.

The procurement MIS, e-Vipnan,implemented in the district, proved to bea major ICT initiatives in empowering thefarmers. The implementation of e-PDSwas welcomed both by the beneficiariesand the district administration.

e-Vipnan – a step towards clean

procurement

(http://onlineapp.bih.nic.in/kpc) Rohtas is the one of largest procurer ofrice from farmers through ‘State FoodCorporation’ and different PurchaseCenters including PACS. Earlier, thepurchase data was maintained manuallyand it was very difficult to compile &collate and there was no transparencyboth to the farmers and the government.To facilitate free and fair record keepingin a transparent manner an online MISsoftware was developed by NIC andimplemented at all the 24 Purchase

Centres in the district. Every purchasefrom the farmer is recorded in thesoftware. The farmer details like name,photograph, purchase weight, amount ofcheque along with total area and landdetails are captured.

Sasaram, the administrativeheadquarters of the districtRohtas (Bihar) - a place ofhistorical importance, issurrounded by Bhojpur andBuxar district in the North,by Palamu and Garwah inthe South, Aurangabad anda part of Gaya in the Eastand by Kaimur district inthe West. Famous for theTomb of Sher Shah, builttowards the middle of thesixteenth century, is thesecond highest tomb inIndia. The Ashok inscriptionat Chand-tan-pir on a hillnear Sasaram is ofhistorical value. Theeconomy is mainly basedon agriculture with paddy,maize, wheat & barleybeing the main crop.

ANAND MAYANKDistrict Informatics [email protected]

Information Technology plays a vitalrole in providing good governance.District Administration, Rohtas withthe help of NIC has implemented manye-Governance solutions and many arein implementation phase for providingbetter services to the citizens. I am surethey will keep up the good work infuture and make Rohtas a model cityin terms of e-Governance.

SANDEEP KUMAR R. PUDKALKATTI IAS

District Magistrate



Steps for Procurement (including thosegiven by PACS):

• Farmer goes to Procurement Centre forissue of his token no.

• He deposits the original land receiptalong with amount of paddy to sell.

• Purchase Centre Incharge sends thisoriginal land receipt along with otherdetails to Circle Officer for verification.

• Circle officer verifies it and issues“enforcement” for purchase.

• The sequence is maintained for sendingthe ‘Original Land Receipt’ and otherdetails for verification and receiving theenforcement.

• After the enforcement is received andas per the token number the farmer sellshis produce at the purchase centre.

• A cheque is issued on the same day andphotography is done along with thecheque.

• “Original Land Receipt” is returned tofarmer with a stamp mentioning that theproduce has been purchased for this land.

Every data related to purchase is madeavailable in the public domain at districtwebsite (http://rohtas.bih.nic.in) for widerdissemination and viewing. The printoutsof the data taken from the website aresent randomly to farmers for verification.The role based software has front-end inASP.NET & the backend database is inSQL Server.

district website The district website(http://rohtas.bih.nic.in) developed andhosted by NIC is one-stop source ofinformation and provides all theinformation related to e-Governance

activities in its ‘News & Events section’.The detail information related to history,geography, statistics and tourists placesetc. are available which have beenaugmented with the suitablephotographs. The section on latesthappenings attracts the visitors often.

The website developed for district court(http://dc-rohtas.bih.nic.in) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya(http://rohtas.bih.nic.in/JNV) are alsoamong the popular ones.

e- pds (coupon tracking system)Earlier, it was difficult to track monthwise utilization of ration, distributedthrough fair price shop (FPS). To trackthis, coupons are issued month wise /itemwise to the beneficiaries for the wholeyear in advance. The beneficiary uponreceiving his ration, submits the couponsitem wise for the month to the FPS ownerwho in turn submits it to the MarketingOfficer.

Online software was developed forcoupon tracking. The issued couponnumber and disbursed coupon aretracked and matched. The result is madeavailable on the web site. The dealer wiseration stock can also be checked.

biometrics based attendance

monitoringTimeliness is a key to productivity. Toimprove efficiency and time discipline inthe district, a biometrics system is beingestablished at all 19 blocks, 3 sub-divisions and district headquarters. Thedevices will be GPRS based system and itwill transmit all the attendance data tothe central server established at DataCentre. Every employee will be registeredon the finger print based biometrics

device. They will mark their attendanceat the start and at the end of the day. Themonthly salary can be calculated as perthe attendance records generated throughsoftware.

Besides this, NIC Rohtas is providingtechnical support to the district inadministration in implementation of thefollowing National & State level projects:

national level projects :• e-Court – MMP Project

• Vahan (Vehicle Registration / Road TaxCoolection) & Sarathi (License Issue).

• NregaSoft (MIS for MNREGS)

• AWAASoft (MIS for Indira Awas)

• NADRS (MIS for VeterinaryDepartment)

• PriaSoft (MIS for Panchayati RajDepartment)

• PlanPlus (MIS for Zila Parishad)

• NDAL (National Database of ArmsLicense)

state level projects :• RTPS (Right to Public Service Act)

• Asset Declaration

• e-PDS (PDS Coupon Tracking System)

• CTMIS (Comprehensive Treasury MIS)

• BISWAN (Bihar State Wide AreaNetwork)

• IWDMS

For Further Information:Anand Mayank

District Informatics Officer, Rohtas




ROHTAK:ICT Hub for e-Governance in Haryana

Edited by Vivek Verma

NIC Rohtak District Centre, established inthe year 1988, has contributed immenselyin inculcating informatics culture in thedistrict and at present is a hub for manye-Governance activities utilizing ICT forpromoting transparency and goodgovernance. With full support of DistrictAdministration, NIC has been able toaccelerate the pace of e-Governanceactivities in the district.

e-Patwar Kendrae-Patwar Kendra at Sampla wasestablished to update data of Roznamchaetc, directly by the patwari himself, sothat farmers and landlords could easilyavail revenue related information. All thepatwaries of tehsil are available forassisting public at e-Patwar Kendra.

Panchayat/Mc Voters List Generation

systeM Through the new ICT based system,ward-wise voter-list is generated for usein Panchayat and MC Elections in asimplified manner. It is derived from thevoter list of Assembly and Lok Sabha.The system has resulted in generation ofcorrect lists thus saving a lot of time,money and efforts.

GeneraL eLectionsComprehensive ICT support was providedfor Haryana General Assembly, LokSabha, Panchayat and MC Electionscovering duty assignments,randomization of polling booths, pollingparties, EVMs etc. Helplines were alsoestablished and operated successfully.Communication Plan, ResultDissemination and extensive ICT supportservices were provided round the clockduring elections.

e-district Project Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Hon’bleChief Minister, Haryana, launched citizen

services delivery through e-Disha (EkalSewa Kendra for delivery of citizenservices) centre at Rohtak. The centre has20 ICT enabled counters, helpdesk and atoken issuance system. The citizenservices being delivered include serviceslike registration of vehicles, differenttypes of driving licenses, National andState Permits, NOC, NCRB Reports, Birth& Death certificates, Nakal of RoR,

The district derivesits name from itsheadquarter townRohtak, which issaid to be acorrection ofRohtashgarh,named after RajaRohtash, in whosereign the city is saidto have been built.

MUNISH GUPTADistrict Informatics [email protected]

JITENDER SINGH District Informatics Associate

[email protected]

Information technology has broughtphenomenal change in delivery ofservices to the citizens making it faster,efficient and effective. DistrictAdministration in collaboration withNIC District Centre is committed toprovide SMART services to its citizens.NIC District Centre, Rohtak is playing apivotal role in providing andpromoting the ICT culture bydelegating accurate, transparent andresponsive information and services tothe district, which has radicallychanged the process of e-Governancein the district, enhancing transparencyand betterment of citizen centricservices. I appreciate, Mr. Munish BabuGupta, DIO, Rohtak and his team fortheir dedicated efforts in making e-Governance initiatives successful inthe district.

VIKAS GUPTA IAS

Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak



applications for water/sewerage, Rationcards and social welfare schemes.

iMMunization inforMation systeM Launched by Sh. Deepender SinghHooda, Hon’ble M.P. Rohtak, theapplication was developed to monitor theimmunization records of children. Thesystem enables easy storage of mobilenumbers of parents or relatives of childduring his/her birth along with otherdetails. As per schedule of vaccine, anSMS is sent on their mobile to ensuretimely immunization.

Mustard ProcureMent and

MonitorinG systeMThe system has been designed to facilitatefarmers with market related informationto ensure that they can sell their produceon Government prescribed rates in ahassle-free manner. The system is fedwith data deduced by surveying amustard sown field. Interpreting thesame, system generates a coupon thatprovides information related to where,when and how much mustard can be soldby the farmer.

ProPerty reGistration In Rohtak, around 250 property deeds arebeing registered daily through HARISsoftware. The stamp duty fee is generatedautomatically by the system as percollector rate. The system has facility togenerate various reports like ReferenceBook, Index and Income Tax Statement

required by the Income Tax Department.

Land recordsFor automatic generation of newJamabandis by incorporating mutationsin the fixed period of time, HALRISsoftware is being used. The software isalso being used for issuance of nakals ofJamabandi and mutations to the public.

onLine reGistration for eMPLoyMent A system has been developed for theunemployed youth to register themselvesonline for employment in a hassle-freemanner. The system rejoices wide scaleacceptance among the common masses.

e-record Web Enabled Court Cases Software, isbeing used to generate Cause lists,Judgement writing etc. in the office ofDivisional Commissioner and DistrictAdministration, Rohtak.

heaLth Suite of software packages formonitoring the prevention of foodadulteration, Medical Certification ofCause of Death (MCCD), Processing BedOccupancy & Mortality Rate, DOTS(Directly observed treatment short termfor eradication of TB disease), MedicineInventory Management and GOIsponsored IDSP (Integrated DiseaseSurveillance Project) has been installed inthe district.

sociaL weLfare dePartMent Online Haryana Pensions Processing &Information System has beenimplemented for about 1 lakh pensionersin the district. It is helping in timelydisbursement of pension to Old age,Widows, Handicapped, MR, Ladli, FADCand other types of pensioners.

senior citizen id card software The project has been implemented in thedistrict for creating database of seniorcitizens along with issuing them ID Cardsbesides dispensing other benefits.

PubLic GrieVance MonitorinG systeM

(http://harsamadhan.gov.in) This system has been implemented acrossthe district for speedy disposals ofgrievances.

Post office Post offices of Rohtak District have beenconnected with 2 Mbps leased linethrough NIC District Center for e-Servicesto citizen. Computerized Postal LifeInsurance, Western Union Money, EMOservices, Speed Post services, NewPension Scheme, Postal AccountingSystem and e-Post etc are beingimplemented at the Post Offices.

For Further Information District Informatics Officer

NIC District Centre,

Rohtak, Haryana


Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Hon’ble Chief Minister ofHaryana, inaugurating the e-DISHA Centre

The team receiving National e-Governance Silver Icon Awardfor implementing Mustard Procurement System


International e-Gov Update

BlAck BusIness fInder (BBf): A new APP lAunched for

IndIgenous BusInesses In AustrAlIAn order to leverage the indigenous businesses and nurturethem with a conducive growth environment, theQueensland Government, Australia has established an

online database of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderbusinesses. The database has been named as Black BusinessFinder (BBF).

The online database is further linked to ICN Gateway, acomprehensive online system with more than 60,000 listedsuppliers and around AU$247 billion worth of projects. Thedatabase also serves as an effective tool for major project ownersin construction, agriculture, mining and tourism to source goodsand services from local indigenous businesses.

The registering businesses on ICN have to create their CompanyProfile in a 3-step process. After this, they may registerexpressions of interest in opportunities that have been listed onICN Gateway.

The project will prove as a milestone in providing long termeconomic independence and social security to the families of theAboriginal community, which according to 2006 survey, only

6% of them worked in their own businesses when compared to17% of non-indigenous people. The project aims to achieve thisby integrating the indigenous communities’ businesses intosupply chains of government and private sector.

For Further Informationhttp://www.bbf.org.au/

Access to InformAtIon And PrIvAcy (AtIP)

PortAl for onlIne request lAunched In

cAnAdA o ensure more responsive andtransparent governance, theGovernment of Canada has launched a

portal called Access to Information and Privacy(ATIP) Online Request to facilitate the citizensrequesting information under the Access toInformation Act or the Privacy Act of thecountry. Under these two acts, Canadian citizenshave the access to most government relatedinformation except some crucial documentssuch as Cabinet related documents andinformation that could be injurious to Canada’ssecurity or economy, federal-provincial relationsand international affairs. At present, all thecitizens of Canada, permanent residents andcorporation in Canada are authorized to make arequest under the Access to Information Act.Those who are not from the above category canask a representative (a Canadian citizen or permanent resident)to make a request on his/her behalf with a written consent.

The new portal promises of streamlining the process ofrequesting government records and make it altogether simplerand user-friendly. Now it is not at all essential for users to printand mail paper-based applications to different departments asthey can directly upload supporting documents such as proof ofidentity with their application, online. Besides this, the portalalso allows requestors to securely pay the application feethrough their credit cards.

At present, three Government Departments viz. the TreasuryBoard Secretariat (TBS), Shared Services Canada (SSC) andCitizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) are involved in thepilot phase of the project. In due time, government has plannedto extend the project to incorporate other federal institutionsunder its commitments envisaged under Canada’s OpenGovernment Action Plan.

For Further Informationhttps://atip-aiprp.apps.gc.ca/

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International e-Gov Update

onlIne census 2013 rejoIces wIdesPreAd PoPulArIty In new

ZeAlAnd nline Census 2013 has earned wide scale acceptanceamong citizens of New Zealand. Launched for the firsttime during 2006 Census, the online system ensures

that data is collected quickly, safely and easily along withimproved respondents’ experience. The 2013 online censussystem is overall similar to 2006’s, with only few minor updates.

With the new online forms, respondents are now automaticallyrouted past questions they don’t need to answer, based on theiranswers to the preceding questions. The new form also ensuresthat only numeric characters can be used where only a numericresponse is required. Also, an automatic consistency checkerprevents all types of contradictory responses.

Statistics New Zealand, the government department which hasbeen primarily involved in conducting the census, intended tohave 35 per cent of respondents, or around 2 million people,participating in the Online Census 2013 by filling the form.

The census has started on Tuesday, 5 March 2013. All citizensof New Zealand are required legally to participate in the censusand if they fail to do so will be fined up to $500. The results ofthe 2013 Census will be released starting from December 2013.

For Further Informationhttp://www.census.govt.nz/

electronIc tenderIng system commenced In ABu

dhABIn electronic tendering system has beenlaunched in Abu Dhabi which facilitatessuppliers and contractors (both inside and

outside UAE) to record and submit their bidselectronically for tenders issued by the Department ofFinance. The system has been developed by Abu DhabiDepartment of Economic Development (ADDED) inclose collaboration with Department of Finance. Thenew system will take up all the tasks linked with theprocurement process viz. bidding, offer evaluation,contract awarding and reimbursement. The suppliersfrom Private sector can now register themselves on thedepartment website by furnishing details such as tradelicense registration number and expiry date, commerciallicense number, and services and products available.

On the launch of the system, Dr. Hazem Turki Al-Khatib,Director of the Information Technology Division, said“The electronic registration system of suppliers andcontractors and the electronic tenders system weredeveloped adopting the highest technical standards. Thecooperation between the Department of Finance andOracle Global Co. resulted in producing an integratedsystem which is superior to other similar systems asregards registering suppliers and contractors on thewebsite, informing them of tenders by the Departmentaccording to their business line and type of serviceprovided, and up to the Department receiving of their quotationsand remarks through the system. Both systems will also enablenew suppliers the opportunity to register in the Department ofFinance’s register of suppliers and participate in theDepartment’s tenders, inquire and track their invoices, reviewpurchase orders issued to them, as well as providing them with

results of their participation in any of the Department’s tenders;while the Department enables existing suppliers to completetheir registration formalities by writing [email protected]”.

For Further Informationhttp://www.census.govt.nz/

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Cyber Governance

national institute for the orthopaediCally handiCapped

(nioh), KolKataNational Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped wasestablished in the year 1978 as an autonomous, apexorganization in the area of locomotor disability, under theMinistry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government ofIndia. It is located in the city of Kolkata and expanding itsservices countrywide with three Regional Centers at Patna,Dehradun and Aizawal.

NIOH is primarily involved in developing human resource forproviding services to the orthopaedically handicappedpopulation. It also conducts and sponsors research in all aspectsrelated to the rehabilitation of the orthopaedically handicappedand provides services in the area of rehabilitation, restorativesurgery, aids and appliances and vocation training to the personswith disability.

The website of the organization is rich in content which seemsto be updated on the frequent basis. The information related toclinical services, legislation, rehabilitation services along withthe details of various Departments of NIOH, Regional Centersand Library are made available on the website. Informationrelated to tenders, press releases, advertisements and results areprovided in the Notice Board, prominently placed on the rightside of the homepage. The website also claims to be the firstGovernment website in India to have Accessible PDFs, includingAccessible Interactive PDF forms.

The website is well organized and diligently designed with wellplaced visual branding elements. It also has clutter-free,minimalistic design. In terms of interactivity, the users cansubmit their suggestions in the box provided inside the “ContactUs” page. The website is quite compatible with all majorbrowsers.

Majuli Cultural landsCape ManageMent authority

(MClMa), assaMMajuli Cultural Landscape Management Authority (MCLMA) isa statutory body constituted under the provision of the MajuliCultural Landscape Region (MCLR) Act 2006, which has

mandated the authority to integrate development and heritagefor protection of traditional resources of MCLR througheducation, awareness, understanding of cultural significance andensuring a sustainable and positive development trend. The keyrole of the authority is to protect the living & non-living culturalresources, implement the management plan, co-ordinate andmonitor development of socio-economic, socio-culturalactivities, including disaster mitigation and prepare riskpreparedness plan for the entire landscape region. The websitehas been designed and developed by NIC, Assam State Centre.

Overall, the website of the authority has a very pleasing look.The rich graphics make the website visually appealing. The siteincorporates innovative navigation menus to ensure quick andeasy access to the information. The header contains variousimages depicting the rich, cultural legacy of Majuli region, andthese are portrayed through an image slider. Exhaustiveinformation is provided on the culture, holy places, touristhotspots, flora and fauna, geography and District Administrationof the Majuli sub-division. Information related to Key Contacts,Government Offices, Police Stations, Banks and major NGOslocated in Majuli is also provided.

With conscientiously planned design and vibrant mix of colours,the website scores high on the designing front. The websiteseems to be compatible with all major browsers.

http://niohkol.nic.in

CONTENT: HHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHH

http://majulilandscape.gov.in/

CONTENT: HHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HH


Cyber Governance

Contributed By:Lokesh JoshiPrincipal Systems AnalystE-mail: [email protected]

gujarat pollution Control Board (gpCB)The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) is a premier bodyconstituted by Government of Gujarat with a view to protect theenvironment, prevent and control the pollution of air and waterin the state. The board has been entrusted with the Central Actsand relevant rules for pollution control as notified thereof fromtime to time. The important functions being performed by theboard include monitoring of water and air quality, effluentsampling and analysis, inspection in respect of performance ofeffluent treatment plants and air pollution control equipmentamong others.

The website of the board is well designed with visually appealinglook. The website deploys judicious use of colors that are soberin nature. Use of refined graphics makes the website moreengaging.

The website uses structured navigation for easy steering. It seemsto be quite compatible with all major browsers.

The website is rich in information. The header region of thewebsite comprises of information related to GPCB such as itsaim, mission, vision, functions and priorities, projectsundertaken by the board, Environmental clearance guidelines,RTI, notifications, tenders, publications, presentations, FAQsalong with contact information of the Head Office, RegionalOffices and Vigilance Offices of the board. The left side of thehomepage is dedicated for resources section while the right sideshowcases the important, recent news.

The website has a well structured site map for enhancedsearchability and also has a feedback section for obtainingimportant suggestions and feedback from users.

news on airAll India Radio (AIR) is among the premier broadcastingorganizations in the world. The News Services Division (NSD)of All India Radio disseminates news and comments to listenersin India and abroad. Started from 27 news bulletins in 1939-

40, AIR today puts more than 651 bulletins daily around 55hours in 91 languages/dialects in the Home, Regional andExternal Services.

The News on AIR website is an exhaustive repository of latest,up-to-date information which is well categorized under variousgroups such as Top Headlines, National and International News,News from the world of Sports, Business, Entertainment andStates. Important news is also flashed through a ticker just belowthe header.

The right side of the homepage is reserved for importantannouncements, featured news & articles, related websites,Interviews and weather related information. The website offersAudio feature which enables the users to listen to the importantnews in English, Hindi and Urdu along with other regionallanguages. A dedicated search button and clean layout make iteasy for users to navigate smoothly through the website.

The website is well designed and compatible with all majorbrowsers. It also prominently features links to RSS feeds andmajor Social Media websites such as Facebook and twitter. Linksfor SMS and NOP services are also provided.

http://www.gpcb.gov.in

CONTENT: HHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHDESIGN: HHHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHHH

http://airnsd.nic.in/

CONTENT: HHHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHDESIGN: HHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHHH


In the News

e-gOv KnOwleDge exChange FOrum

2013 helD in srinagar

two day forum on E-GovKnowledge Exchange, jointlyorganized by Government of

Jammu and Kashmir and Elets TechnoMedia Pvt. Ltd., held in Srinagar from23rd to 25th May 2013. CommissionerSecretary, Science & Technology andInformation Technology Department,Government of J&K was the Person inChair of the event. NICSI was theesteemed “Government Partner” to theeGov Knowledge Exchange Forum. NICSIalong with NIC J&K exhibited the variousprojects in the field of KnowledgeExchange. The two day forum broughttogether key representatives from allareas of Governance, ICT industry andCivil Society.

The forum served as a unique platform

for knowledge sharing in various areas ofe-Governance. Many key officials fromthe state of Jammu and Kashmir, CentralGovernment and also from other statesput forth their ideas on e-Governance.

eGov Knowledge Exchange Forum wasinaugurated by Shri Omar Abdullah,Hon’ble Chief Minister of Jammu andKashmir. The key personalities whoparticipated in the event were Dr. KilliKruparani, Minister of State, Ministry ofCommunications and InformationTechnology, Government of India, ShriFeroz Ahmad Khan, Hon’ble Minister ofState (Independent Charge) InformationTechnology, Science & Technology;Additional Charge of School Education,Medical Education, Youth Services andSports, Government of Jammu &Kashmir, Shri J Satyanarayana, Secretary,Department of Electronics and

Information Technology, Ministry ofCommunications & InformationTechnology, Government of India. Theparticipating dignitaries discussed andshared their experiences and hurdlesfaced during implementation of e-Governance applications in theirrespective states.

Shri Abhay Kumar, Senior TD & SIO,Jammu and Kashmir has been presentedan award for his role in handling CentralMission Mode projects in Jammu andKashmir. Also, Shri Suresh Kumar,Principal Secretary Home Department,Government of Jammu and Kashmir hasbeen awarded eGov Champion Award forintroducing the e-Governance inMunicipal Bodies. The project has beenjointly executed by NIC/NICSI Jammuand Kashmir along with SDU, Pune.

Jitraj, J&K

A

Dr Killi Kruparani, Minister of State, Ministry of Communicationsand Information Technology, Government of India presentingaward for Handholding Central Mission Mode projects in J&K toShri Abhay Kumar SIO, NIC J&K Hon’ble CM J&K, Shri Omar Abdullah giving keynote address

ODBC COmpliant DataBase integratOr

launCheD

he Prison Division of NIC hasdeveloped a utility forintegrating ODBC compliant

databases in the vertical as well ashorizontal manner. It is primarilydeveloped using .NET framework.However, if required, the web service canbe deployed in the open sourceenvironment also. At the user domains,the utility has been customized to fetchthe incremental data from the domaintables, update the upload-status of therecord uploaded, need based fetching of

the selected data in the domain tablesalong with insertion and updation of datainto buffer tables, located at the domains.At the Central Schedular, the systemutility connects all domains and startselecting incremental data from alldomains, updates the upload status andinserts/updates data in all the domainswhere it is defined to be inserted.

This utility has been made operational atNIC Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. It isworking perfectly in tune with the datarequirements of Police, Court and Prisonsof Mandi District as desired by the

Hon’ble Chief Justice of HimachalPradesh. ePrisons application of NIC hasbeen installed at NIC-HP Shimla andmade operational at three jails: Kanda,Mandi and Shimla of Himachal Pradesh.

This database integrator developed forCJDS is tested thoroughly and isavailable for any NIC division looking tointegrate this utility with their ownapplications/projects, where databaseintegration is required both vertically andhorizontally.

Rajiv Prakash Saxena, Delhi

T


In the News

e-panjeeyan prOjeCt FrOm assam sets

new stanDarDs

IC Assam State Centre, incollaboration with Revenue &Disaster Management

Department, Government of Assam,bagged the Gold Award in National e-Governance Award 2012-13 under thecategory Government Process Re-engineering (GPR) in the recentlyconcluded 16th National Conference one-Governance held at Jaipur on 11th &12th February, 2013. This Award is inrecognition to the state-wide rollout ofthe e-Panjeeyan (Registration) Project in75 Sub-Registrar Offices (SROs), and the

extensive Government Process Re-engineering (GPR) carried out in theprocess. The Selection Committeeespecially appreciated the drasticreduction in time in providing theoriginal copy of the deed to theconcerned parties; earlier, in the pre-computerization period, it used to take9-10 years in bigger places like Guwahatito get the original copy; now it has beenreduced to a single day. Unlike in someother states, this project not only catersto property registration but all kinds ofregistrations including marriages. e-Panjeeyan has been successfullyintegrated with e-Stamping solution from

Stock-holding Corporation of India Ltd(SHCIL) on one hand and Dharitree (Landrecords Computerization) on the other.

The Revenue and Disaster ManagementDepartment (R&DM), Government ofAssam, has initiated the state-widerollout of computerization of registration,which is being implemented under theAsian Development Bank-funded AssamGovernance and Public ResourceManagement Project (AGPRMP). InAssam, there are 77 Sub-Registrar Officesout of which four Sub-Registrar Officeshave already been computerized underthe Pilot Project. The software solution(e-Panjeeyan) for the computerization ofregistration project has been provided bythe NIC Assam State Centre, and is basedon JEE and MySQL with an object-oriented approach. The software isdesigned as per the rules of theRegistration Act, and built with theobjective of providing operational anddecision-making support to all activitiesof the Sub-Registrar Office. Theapplication software provides solutionsfor the pre-registration, registration andpost-registration activities of Sub-Registrar’s Office. It also supports webservices for interopreatability with LandRecord System, e-Stamping andexporting data to a central server for datastorage.

Debajit Bhattacharya, Assam

The Gold Award under GPR Category being received by Shri VK Pipersenia, IAS, PricipalSecretary (Revenue & DM), Government of Assam other Revenue officials (at centre),Shri Deepak Goswami, SIO, NIC Assam (to right), Shri Devajit Bhattacharyya, TD, NICAssam (to left) and Shri Rahul Deka, Programmer, NIC Assam (extreme right)

N

Cm Chhattisgarh launChes Online

mOnitOring OF puBliC welFare

sChemes in mahasamunD DistriCt

istrict Collector, Mahasamundintroduced the concept ofappointing Nodal Officer at

each and every gram panchayat ofdistrict to monitor the status of publicwelfare schemes launched by theState/Central Governments. AppointedNodal Officer could be governmentemployee at nearby village/villagepanchayat/block. Every Nodal Officermust visit his assigned village panchayator village once in a month to take stockof public welfare schemes of varioussectors like ‘Anganbadi, education,health, PDS. Every Nodal Officer thenprepares a progress report and submits itto respective SDM/CEO Janpad who inturn compiles the reports of all village

panchayat of their blockand submits to thecollector.

In order to eliminatecumbersome manualreport preparation andinherent delays, NICDistrict centreMahasamund tookinitiative to design anddevelop the applicationsoftware to computerizethese processes. Nodalofficers can log in onlineby using their credentials to update themonthly progress. Higher officials canthen generate multiple online reports toenable appropriate decision making.

This application has been successfullyinaugurated by the Hon'ble Chief

Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. RamanSingh on the 23rd May 2013 inMahasamund District. The applicationcan be accessed athttp://cg.nic.in/mahasamund.

Y.V. Shreenivas Rao, Chattisgarh

Collector, Mahasamund together with DIO NICdemonstrating application to Dr. Raman Singh, CMChhattisgarh

D


In the News

event marKeD the CeleBratiOn OF 1001

institutes COnneCteD unDer nKn

n event has been organized atShastri Park, New Delhi on 9thMay, 2013 to commemorate the

linking of 1001 institutions under theNKN program. Dr R. Chidambaram, PSAto Government of India & Chairman,High Level Committee, NKN, Prof S V Raghavan, Scientific Secretary atOffice of Principal Scientific Advisor toGoI, Dr. B K Gairola, Mission Director (e-Governance), DeitY and Shri M Moni,Director General, National InformaticsCentre were the main speakers of theevent. The event was also attended byDDGs and Senior Officials of NIC alongwith NKN team. SIOs from various statesalso joined the event through videoconferencing.

The event startedwith welcoming ofthe guests. Shri MMoni welcomedand addressed theaudience. Hecongratulated theentire team behindNKN on successfulachievement ofprovidingconnectivity to1001 institutes.Shri Moniproposed theformation of 26centers ofexcellence acrossthe country. In thisregard, he also highlighted on thetechnical skill development programme

for persons abovethe rank oftechnical director.

Dr. R Chidambaramaddressed theaudience with apresentation onNKN & the ThirdIndustrialRevolution. Heshowcased thejourney of NKNsince inception andalso shared histhoughts on thefuture roadmap. Inhis address, Dr.

Raghavan emphasized on the need for highquality and reliable skill development. Healso spoke about the third industrialrevolution which is driven by Internet andDigital manufacturing. He shared futureplans in which NKN aims to create a largenumber of grids and super grids.

Dr. B K Gairola also addressed thegathering and thanked the entire teambehind the success of NKN. Heencouraged the team to work as acohesive unit and achieve the desiredresult.

Prof. S V Raghavan complimented theNKN team headed by Shri R S Mani forimplementing the project in a systematicmanner.

Seema Khanna, Delhi (L to R) Dr. B K Gairola, Prof. S V Raghavan, Dr. R Chidambaram& Shri M Moni addressing the audience

Dr. B K Gairola addressing the audience

A

the launCh OF “in pursuit OF an iDea” - Creative

COllaBOratiOn On Open gOvernment Data FOr

innOvatiOn

n association with Institute of Informatics &Communication (IIC), University of Delhi(http://www.iic.ac.in/web/), a unique event-

"In Pursuit of an Idea" has been organized, toencourage creative collaboration on Open GovernmentData for innovation. Students from University of Delhiand professionals from the diverse fields will developapps, visualizations, info-graphics and data-sanitationbased on the ‘New Ideas’ given by the citizens at large.

The event was launched on 24th May 2013. Seniorofficials from DGFT (http://dgft.gov.in), NIC and theUniversity apart from civil society, developercommunity and academia participated in the ceremony.

I

Overview of the event


In the News

The event is spread over to 60 days andwill be executed in two phases. Phase oneof the project would be for ideageneration and phase two would be tobuild solutions around the shortlistedideas. The students along withexperienced mentors from across theworld in developer communities will beworking on various sectors including butnot limited to Trade, Energy, Agriculture,Drinking Water & Sanitation, Education& Skill Development, Health & FamilyWelfare and an Open category relevant tothe emerging needs of the country.

The final outcome would be in the formof visualizations, mobile apps, web appsetc. These final products could beshowcased on the data portal(http://data.gov.in/community/idea-collaboration). All materials, code anddata generated will be placed publicdomain under creative commons(http://creativecommons.org/) license so

that it may be reused,remixed and furtherenhanced.

During developmentphase of the project,young minds will bechallenged and ignitedwith an innovativeframework tocollaborate withdifferent stakeholders ofthe society to work onpressing needs of thecountry so that theywould come out withinnovative solutions for public good. It isexpected that this endeavour will forge acollaborative environment betweengovernment, students and citizens atlarge to address real world problems withOpen Data innovations.

Interested users can come forward and

contribute to the idea corpus through theevent home page http://data.gov.in/community/idea-collaboration. They caneven share their valuable feedback on theevent page on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/events/55876691747990.

D.P.Misra, Delhi

Event in progress

Online FOrm-C anD s-FOrm unDer ivFrt

mmp launCheD at FrO, patna

nline Form-C and S-Form underIVFRT MMP was launched atFRO, Patna soon after a meeting

held by Foreign Regional Office (FRRO),Kolkata with Guest Houses/Hotel Owners and Educational Institutionson18/06/2013 in the Conference Hall ofPatna Collectorate.

Shri Shakeel Ahmed, FRRO, Kolkata gavean overview of IVFRT MMP in theinaugural session to sensitizerepresentatives from Hotels andEducational Institutions. He informedthem about the computerized Visa,Immigration and Foreigners Registrationand other services being rendered to

Foreignersunder IVFRTproject.

Shri RajivRanjan, ProjectCo-ordinator,NIC Bihar gavetechnicalpresentation onOnline Servicesfor Foreigners,Online Form-Cand S-Form toenablerepresentativesfrom Hotels and Educational Institutionsto know about various modules underIVFRT and how to use them. In particular,

they were informedabout onlineregistration,approval process soas to access theonline system. ShriRabindra KumarSingh, DIO, Patnaand Shri SanjayKumar Singh,ADIO, Patna alsoparticipated inmeeting andtechnical session.

User manual for online Form-C and S-Form was provided to the participants.

Officials from FRO, Patna alsoparticipated for smooth implementationof c-FRO, Online Form-C and Online S-Form. Very first day of the meeting, onehotel got approval for registration forusing online Form-C to submit arrivaldetails of foreigners.

Questions & Answer session was jointlyaddressed by Shri Shakeel Ahmed, FRRO,Kolkata, Shri Manu Maharaj, SSP & FRO,Patna and NIC Officers.

Rajiv Ranjan, Bihar

O

Meeting -cum- presentation session for Online Form-C andS-Form at Patna

Questions & Answer Session during Meeting for implementation ofonline Form-C and S-Form